Of Roses and Clouds
by risingphoenixa
Summary: Aya Seino was the type of girl who kept to herself. She just wanted to blend in with the rest of her classmates. By keeping to herself and blending in, no one would have to know that she wasn't quite like everyone else. However, when Aya is assigned to squad ten, she finds herself wanting to form those bonds of friendship, the very same bonds that she had once had and then lost.
1. Chapter 1

**Hi, here's part one of my story Of Roses and Clouds. Hope you enjoy it and thanks for reading. :)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its original characters or plot; all credit goes to its original creator.**

* * *

Aya looked into her bedroom wall mirror once more making sure everything was in place. She checked her dark brown hair making sure that no strands stuck out from her low ponytail. She then made sure her long bangs were combed to the left side of her head, so that they completely covered her left pastel green eye. This made it nearly impossible for her to see out of that eye, but she had become used to relying solely on her right light brown eye. It had been difficult at first, but in the end it helped her blend in making it absolutely necessary.

"Looks good," mumbled Aya to herself after fixing her bangs. She then focused her attention on her left arm. She pushed up the sleeve of her button down white shirt and with her eye and her fingers carefully examined the bandages that were wrapped around her arm from her wrist to her shoulder. She made sure none were loose and that _it_ did not peek through. After she was satisfied with that, she pushed the sleeve back down and grabbed her light pink zipper up sweatshirt from the back of her desk chair, slipping it on and zippering it half way up.

"And last but not least these." Aya picked up her tan knit fingerless gloves and slipped them onto each of her hands. She really only needed a glove for her left hand. It along with her left arm were affected by _it_ and had to be covered up. In comparison, her right hand was perfectly normal, but Aya had found that wearing the pair of gloves was more approved of than wearing just a single glove; it looked more normal and that's what Aya was going for: Normal. She just wanted to blend in, just be another student in her class, just another face in the crowd. There were students that strived to stick out with their high grades or jokester antics, but as for Aya she strived to just blend. She glanced once more at her appearance.

_Hair. Eye covered. Locket. Sweatshirt. Gloves. Nails!_

Aya held up her right hand in front of her face checking the light green nail polish that covered her nails. She bit her lip. The polish on her index finger and middle finger was slightly chipped. That wouldn't do. Not when the nails on her left hand were always a perfect non-chipped light green. She had to fix it.

"Aya! Breakfast is ready!" Aya's older sister Midori's voice floated into her room just as she finished fixing up the polish on her two fingers. She looked over her nails once more, nodding with satisfaction.

_Okay I'm good to go._

She opened up her desk drawer and stowed her polish back away.

_At least I'm ready physically…mentally though I'm not too sure. After all today's the day that I meet my squad members and sensei. _Aya nervously tugged at the string on her sweatshirt at this thought.

"Aya? Is everything okay?" Midori's voice again.

Aya pushed those thoughts to the back of her mind and headed out of her bedroom. "I'm coming," she called as she shut her bedroom door behind her.

Aya walked down the hallway and into the kitchen where her sister Midori stood at the counter. Whereas Aya had dark brown hair that went slightly past her shoulders, Midori had waist length green hair, currently the same light green shade as Aya's eye, that was done up into a high ponytail adorned with a dark blue ribbon. Upon seeing Aya, Midori smiled. "Good Morning Aya." She then proceeded to load a tray with different dishes of food.

"Morning," Aya replied, frowning at the amount of food that Midori was putting on the tray as she took a seat at the table.

"Here you go." Midori placed the overloaded tray in front of Aya.

"Midori there's way too much food," voiced Aya.

Midori continued to smile. "I may have gone a little overboard. But I wanted you to have a good breakfast since today is the day you get assigned to your squad."

Aya's stomach fluttered with butterflies at the mention of being assigned a squad was brought to her attention again. "Don't remind me."

Midori placed a tray for herself that had a very small amount of food compared to the one that she gave to Aya and took a seat across from her sister. "I'm sure everyone will be nice."

"Yeah," Aya mumbled as she picked up her chopsticks. They would be nice as long as she kept her secrets to herself which of course she intended to do as always.

Midori immediately picked up on Aya's tone and so as usual she responded in a manner that reflected her positive outlook on life. "Aya, your squad will become like a family to you. You'll form bonds with them that will last for a lifetime."

Aya just nodded at Midori and continued to eat her breakfast. Maybe it worked that way for Midori, but it wouldn't be that way for Aya. Her and her sister were similar and they shared the same blood, but Aya was even different from her and because of those differences there was no way that she would ever be able to form those type of bonds with anyone. She would accept her new squad and act polite and friendly as she always did, but she wouldn't get too close. She would play it safe and keep her distance as always.

Midori knowing Aya too well didn't push the subject anymore, instead, she tackled another topic. "Aya where is your headband?"

Aya stopped with her chopsticks halfway to her mouth. "Oh." She had been so focused on her usual morning routine that she had totally forgotten about the headband.

Aya quickly finished up her breakfast, eating it all despite her complaints.

"Do you want more?" Midori asked.

"No, I'm good," said Aya, getting up from her seat. She placed her dish in the sink and then hurried back to her room.

Once in her room Aya found her headband on her desk where she had placed it the night before. She picked it up and then walked over to her mirror. She knew it was supposed to go on her forehead, but she didn't really want to put it there, so instead, she settled for tying it around her neck.

_That'll have to do for now._

Her eyes glanced at her clock on her desk, she'd had better get a move on, so she wouldn't be late.

Once back downstairs, Midori handed her a bag. "Here you go."

"What's this?" Aya questioned.

"Lunch," replied Midori.

"Lunch?" Aya peered into the bag. There was more than one bento box in there. Four to be exact. "Midori," said Aya shaking her head. She immediately knew what her sister was up to.

"There's enough for you and your new teammates," Midori said.

Aya who knew there was no point in arguing simply said, "Thanks for this and for breakfast."

"You're welcome," Midori returned, "Good luck today. I'm sure everything will work out."

"Yeah, hopefully," Aya replied, though she knew that her definition of everything working out and Midori's were different. Midori's encompassed everlasting bonds formed though sharing lunches whereas Aya's encompassed simply getting by which did not involve garnering more attention though handing out homemade bentos.

After stuffing the bag of lunches into her knapsack and with one last goodbye to Midori, Aya left and headed on her way to the Academy.

* * *

Aya briskly wove her way through the crowd of Konohagakure residents that filled the streets. She kept her gaze straight ahead avoiding the eye contact of others and focused on just making her way to the Academy. She could already see the big building in the distance; it wasn't too much farther away.

As she was walking, Aya flipped open the locket that she wore around her neck. She consulted the clock that was inside. She was worried about being late, but it was still a little early to head inside. She didn't want to be late, but she didn't want to be early either. She found that slipping into the classroom about five minutes before class seemed to work best; this way the class was mostly full and she could simply just slide into a seat without anyone giving her much notice.

With those thoughts, Aya snapped close her locket and tucked it back under her sweatshirt and readjusted her destination from the academy to a small bookstore that was nearby. A smile appeared on her lips as she approached the small store with its various flyers advertising upcoming and new releases. The store was one of her favorite places in the village because within its confines it hosted the possibility of endless worlds that she could escape to. She scanned the books and magazines that were in the outside display. Seeing a book that caught her attention, she reached out her hand to pick it up. However, she didn't notice that another hand was also reaching in the same direction until it was too late. Her hand collided with that other hand startling her and causing her to quickly pull her hand back and to look up. Her gaze immediately met that of fellow academy graduate Shikamaru Nara.

"Sorry," she quickly apologized while wondering what he was doing there; he was the last person that she expected to run into there.

"It's fine," he mumbled as he picked up the book he had been reaching for. It was a cookbook.

'_Must be for his mother,' _Aya concluded. That would explain why Shikamaru Nara was at a bookstore rather than dozing off on his desk at the Academy. Realizing she was staring, Aya quickly averted her gaze downwards back towards the table of books. Even though her attention was focused on the book in front of her, she couldn't help sneaking one final look at Shikamaru from the corner of her eye as he ventured off towards the register. Maybe he was a slacker most of the time, but she also knew that there was more to him. She had seen a glimpse of that other side of him; she had seen it in his acceptance of Choji Akamichi. And bearing witness to such a sight made her hope that just maybe he would accept her as well with all her strangeness intact.

'_But that's just wishful thinking. I'm sure there's a limit to even his level of acceptance,' _she thought as she picked up the book that had caught her eye earlier.

_Such thinking is like this book…Just a fairy tale._

With those thoughts Aya opened the book that she held in her hands and escaped into another world if only for a little while.


	2. Chapter 2

Aya hurried down the academy hallway towards her classroom. She walked as fast as she could, restraining herself from breaking into a run. She had spent a little too long browsing the book shop. She wasn't late yet, but her overstay at the book shop had put her behind schedule. There was four minutes and thirty seconds before class started; she was supposed to be in the classroom thirty seconds ago. It was imperative that she stick to her routine, so she could maintain normalcy and not run into any unpleasant surprises that would ruin that normalcy. Aya let out a breath of relief as the door came into view. However, she was barred from entering because a boy stood in the doorway.

_It's Shino Aburame. But what is he doing just standing there?_

Aya approached the boy from behind. "Um, excuse me?"

But instead of addressing her he grumbled, "Naruto" with a venom that made Aya take a involuntary step backwards.

Aya watched wide-eyed as a swarm of his insects left his body and entered the classroom.

_What in the world is going on?_

Aya didn't have to wait long for the answer to her thoughts. The moment after Shino sent out his insects he himself entered the classroom allowing Aya to see inside.

When she peered inside, the first thing that caught her attention was a sketchpad floating in the air supported by Shino's insects.

_That sketchbook is it hers?_

Aya's inkling was confirmed as her eye landed on Sachi Aburame sitting in the front row.

_What's she doing sitting there?_ Where she was sitting was unusual because the girl always sat in the back.

Aya then noticed who was sitting next to her. It was none other than the class heartthrob Sasuke Uchiha. _And what is she doing sitting next to him?_

Aya had sensed that Sachi was similar to her in the fact that they both tried to blend in. One of the major ways of blending in was avoiding people like Sasuke Uchiha. As she thought this, her eyes then landed on another person who it was also a good idea to avoid: Naruto Uzumaki. The boy currently laid face down on the desk in front of Sachi and Sasuke. Aya looked from Naruto to Sachi to Shino and put the pieces together. Naruto must have somehow caused that incident with Sachi's sketchpad which would explain Shino's anger.

_Though that still doesn't explain why she's sitting in the front row next to Sasuke._ As she thought this, Sachi got up from the seat and moved to the back row with Shino.

Aya shook her head. Why was she worrying about such things? It didn't really matter after all. She should be focusing on things that did matter, like getting to her seat. Prying herself from her spot, Aya quickly made her way towards the back row of the classroom and took her usual seat.

"Morning Aya," Sachi who sat to Aya's left greeted her with a smile.

"Morning Sachi," Aya returned with a smile.

_No it doesn't matter why she was sitting in the front row next to Sasuke. All that matters is that she is now sitting in the back, as usual, next to me and her brother._

After greeting Aya, Sachi went back to doodling in her sketchbook and Aya as usual pulled out her book.

_Everything's as it should be. Everything's normal. _With those thoughts Aya turned her attention to her novel.

* * *

"All genin will be grouped into four men squads. Each squad will be lead by a jounin, an elite ninja."

Aya half-listened and half-daydreamed about what was to come in her novel as Iruka-sensei explained the next step in their career as Konoha ninja.

"All right, now I'll list the members of each squad," Iruka continued. At Iruka's words, Aya continued to only pay partial attention as she continued to ponder her novel.

"I'M HERE! I'M HERE!" Aya was distracted from her wanderings by the sudden booming voice of Kita Nakamura. Aya's attention shifted to the front of the classroom where a girl with shoulder length wavy black hair and crimson hued eyes stood trying to catch her breath.

_She's really cutting it close this time._ Kita was almost always late to class; Aya knew that Kita was responsible for taking care of her four siblings, but she still didn't understand why Kita couldn't make a little more effort to be on time.

"Kita…" Iruka-sensei let out a heavy sigh.

"Sorry…I'm late…Kata was sick…so had to get some medicine…and then had to drop off Karina at daycare…" Kita explained while still catching her breath.

At Kita's explanation Aya felt a small prickle of guilt; Kita had a legitimate reason for being late this time.

_I shouldn't be so hard on her. I know all too well that some things are just beyond our control._

Iruka-sensei seemed to share Aya's mindset for his previously exasperated tone morphed into concern. "Is Kata alright?"

Kita nodded. "Looks like the flu; Kei and Kiyoshi are looking after her. She should be fine with some rest."

With Kita's assurance some of the concern faded from Iruka's countenance. "Tell her that I hope she gets well soon."

"Sure thing," Kita responded.

Iruka smiled. "Now how about you take your seat, so I can announce all of the squad placements?"

Kita grinned, her hand reflexively moving up to rub one of her cat-like black, tipped with white, furry ears that adorned the top of her head. Aya had noticed that this habit of Kita's was something she often did when she was excited or anxious about something. "Sounds good to me! I couldn't sleep last night because of wondering about that."

Iruka chuckled. "Well the sooner you take your seat the quicker you can find out."

As soon as Iruka said this, a frown formed on Aya's face. _He shouldn't have said that._

"Alright!" Kita boomed, following Iruka's words the girl punched a fist in the air and then proceeded to run at full speed towards the seats.

Iruka-sensei immediately realizing his mistake reprimanded, "Kita! There's no need to run!"

However, his words went unheeded as the girl continued to run all the way to the back row.

"Hey Aya!" Kita greeted as she sat down in the last seat in the row to the right of Aya's row.

"Hi," Aya returned meeting Kita's gaze.

"So Aya whose team do you want to be on? I figured that as long as I'm not on dog boy's team then I'll be happy with whatever. Although I don't really think I want to be on Uchiha's team…Dealing with his fan girls would be too much of a pain."

As Aya listened to Kita chatter away, she watched the girl's black bushy tail twitching back and forth. "I don't really have any preferences," Aya replied. This answer wasn't entirely true, she really didn't want to be on Sasuke's team either nor did she really want to be paired with Naruto, however, she didn't really feel like explaining all this nor did she want to be overheard by the others because while she didn't want to be on Sasuke or Naruto's team she still felt bad voicing her opinion on the off chance that it would offend them.

Kita's eyes lit up and the twitching of her tail picked up momentum as a thought occurred to her. "Hey, it would be cool if we're on the same team!"

While Aya didn't particularly dislike Kita or anything and would rather be on her team than Naruto or Sasuke's team, she wasn't quite sure that she could handle being around the high energy girl all the time.

"Yay!" Aya and Kita were distracted from their conversation by Naruto's enthusiastic cheers.

"Ooh, looks like he's on Sakura's squad. Good for him," Kita observed.

_That leaves two more members to that squad. I just hope that it's not me._

"I guess I wouldn't mind being on their squad. Naruto's fun to hang around, although I don't know how well Sakura and I would get along," voiced Kita.

"Sasuke Uchiha," Iruka-sensei announced the next member of the squad.

_Now I really don't want to be on that squad._

"Ah, I don't think I want to be a part of that team anymore. Don't think I could handle both Sasuke and Sakura. Poor Naruto," Kita continued her commentary.

"And the last member of squad 7 is Sachiko Aburame," Iruka-sensei finished. Aya at this last addition felt relief, but she also felt disappointment. She had been kind of hoping that Sachi was put on her team because she knew that she would have no problem at getting along with the girl.

_Poor Sachi. _Now the girl had to deal with both Naruto and Sasuke.

_At least she's not a Sasuke fan. That at least makes it easier for her to get along with Sakura._

"Aww, how come they get Sachi? I would have liked to be on her squad; I feel like she's an interesting person. It would have been a good chance to get to know her better," Kita pouted.

"Me too," Aya responded, while keeping her attention on Iruka.

"I know, right? Imagine if all three of us were on the same team….that would have been awesome. Well we might still be on the same team."

"Squad Eight: Hinata Hyuga, Kiba Inuzuka, Shino Aburame, and Kita Nakamura."

As soon as Aya heard this squad arrangement, she prepared herself for the inevitable aftermath.

"WHAT?! WHY DO I HAVE TO BE ON DOG BOY'S TEAM?!" Kita's voice sounded through the classroom as she jumped up from her seat and pointed at the boy in question who sat on the other side of the room.

"Hey now Kitty cat don't be so mean. Think of all the fun we could have," Kiba responded with a mischievous grin.

"Don't call me that."

"Don't call you what _kitty cat_?"

"YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN DOG BOY!"

"I'm quite sure that I have no idea what you're talking about _kitty cat_."

Kita's quarrel with Kiba didn't really interest Aya; this was a scene that happened quite too often. Instead, while she listened to the argument, her eyes were focused on Kita's tail. When their quarrel had first began Kita's tail had begun to swish back and forth, slowly at first, but as their argument continued it increased in intensity and now it was swishing back and forth at a violent speed.

_Someone better do something or Kita's gonna lose her cool. Again._

"Umm, K-Kita," Aya watched as Hinata Hyuga tried to speak to the girl. However, the shy byakugan user's words did not reach the seething Kita.

"KIBA! KITA! THAT'S ENOUGH! YOU TWO ARE GENIN NOW! ACT LIKE IT OR WOULD YOU RATHER I REVOKE THAT RANK?!" It was Iruka who put a stop to the spat.

At Iruka's words Kita gave Kiba one more seething look which he returned with his own mocking grin and then sat back down. "I can't believe I have to be on his team," Aya heard the girl grumble.

Iruka cleared his throat. "Now then, squad ten will be Ino Yamanaka, Shikamaru Nara, Choji Akamichi, and Aya Seino."

Aya perked up at the sound of her name. While Ino's and Choji's names registered with her, Shikamaru's was the one that stuck out to her the most. Her eye sought out the pony tailed brunette.

_I'm on Shikamaru's team? Then maybe…_ Her mind briefly flickered back to Midori's words from earlier that morning: _"__Aya, your squad will become like a family to you. You'll form bonds with them that will last for a lifetime."_ If Shikamaru was part of her team then just maybe…

_No._

Aya shook her head. She shouldn't get her hopes up. She had to stick to her plans. She would be friendly and polite, but she wouldn't get too close. That was the only way to ensure normalcy, to ensure that nothing like _that_ incident occurred again, experiencing that once had been enough, she didn't want to have to go through that pain again.

"After lunch you'll meet your jounin instructors. Until then class dismissed." Iruka-sensei's concluding words brought Aya back to reality, freeing her from her thoughts of the past.

Lunch time. That reminded Aya of the four bento boxes that were stuffed in her bag. She inwardly groaned. What was she going to do with all that food? Midori expected her to share it with her new squad members, but Aya just couldn't see herself doing that. The thought was awkward. After all, she hardly knew these people. Yeah, they had been classmates for years, but there was a difference between being just classmates and being classmates and friends.

Before Aya could reach a solution to her dilemma her thoughts were intruded on by a voice, Ino Yamanaka's voice, "Hey Aya we're going to have lunch on the veranda. You coming?"

Aya looked up to see Ino with Shikamaru and Choji standing behind her.

Aya mustered a smile. "Sure."

Ino returned her smile. "Great. Let's go then." Ino turned to head out, expecting everyone to follow her. Slinging on her knapsack, Aya headed after her new squad.

* * *

On the way to the veranda, the quartet stopped at the little convenience store that was located in the Academy for students who didn't bring lunches. Aya who had her own lunch stood outside off to the side as her teammates headed inside the little store. Her fingers fiddled with her knapsack straps. She still didn't know what to do about the lunches that were in her bag. She would eat hers, but what about the other three? She could simply dump them out before she went home or even just tell Midori that she couldn't give them the lunches because it was too awkward. But if she did either of those she would feel bad. After all, Midori had gone through the trouble of making them. Aya sighed and focused back on her teammates. Her eye fell upon Choji who was gathering a big mountain of rice balls into his arms. Aya could understand why he had chosen to get rice balls, they were cheap and filling, but it wasn't exactly a well balanced meal. Her gaze then switched to Shikamaru who stood in front of the refrigerated section of pre-packed bentos. However, he wasn't focused on looking at the displays, but seemed to be rummaging around in his pockets. Aya watched as he pulled his hands from his pockets and soon afterwards shook his head. It appeared that he was short on money. She watched as he turned away from the refrigerated bentos and instead turned his attention to the rice balls.

"Hey Aya are you getting anything?" Aya was jolted from her observations by Ino's voice. Aya turned her attention to the blond in front of her; she noticed Ino held one riceball.

_Is that all she's eating?_

Aya replied, "I brought a bento."

"A home cooked meal, nice," said Ino, "As for me, I'm on a diet, so this is my lunch." Ino referred to her one rice ball lunch.

Ino turned her attention to Shikamaru and Choji, "Hey you guys hurry up! Lunch is gonna be over by the time you're done!"

The two were in line and the cashier was ringing up Choji's big pile of rice balls. As Aya stared at the rice balls, words that her sister had constantly told her at meal times sounded in her head: "_Aya, it's important to eat a well balanced meal." _At the remembrance of her sister's words, Aya's mind again turned towards the lunch boxes that lay in her knapsack. Now it is seemed downright cruel and not to mention immoral to withhold the bentos from her teammates. Midori's lunches were the epitome of balance and nutrition, whereas eating only rice balls lacked that.

Aya inwardly sighed. She knew what she had to do and doing it would go against her original intentions and beliefs, but Midori's words still echoing in her mind would not let her do otherwise. Before she could regret her choice, Aya turned to Ino. "Um, I actually have lunches. More than one that is. Enough for all us. My sister made them and her lunches are always well-balanced, so you don't have to worry about it ruining your diet." Aya said all this in such a quick rush that at first Ino only stared at her. Aya could feel her face growing redder by the second.

_Great. Just great. I shouldn't have opened my mouth. I should have just stuck to my original plans and dumped the lunches out later…Thanks a lot Midori…_

Aya opened her mouth to try to salvage her situation. "It's fine if you don't want it; you don't have to have it."

Ino shook her head and a smile replaced her shocked expression. "Oh no, I'll definitely accept it, seeing as your sister put so much work in it. I was just surprised; that's the first time I've ever heard you talk that much."

Aya nodded; Ino's words made her feel better, but they also made her cheeks burn. To cover her blushing state, Aya busied herself with taking a lunch box out from her bag and handed it out to Ino.

"Thanks," said Ino with a smile.

"You're welcome," returned Aya.

"Hey how come Ino gets a bento?" Choji's voice sounded. Aya looked up to see that he and Shikamaru had returned. She pulled out another bento and held it towards him. "Here."

He looked at it slightly taken back. "For me?"

"Yes." With Aya's reassurance, Choji's hesitation immediately vanished and with a wide grin he took the bento from Aya. "Awesome! Thanks a lot!"

Aya slightly taken back by his enthusiasm spluttered, "Your welcome."

Aya then pulled the last boxed lunch from her pack and handed it out towards Shikamaru. He hesitated slightly, his hand rubbing the back of his head. "You didn't have to do this," he said.

Aya shook her head. "I didn't make them, my sister did." As she said this, Aya had a fleeting feeling of wishing that she was the one who made them. "She chose to do it. She wanted to." Aya added hurriedly, as she hated the thought that any of them, though especially Shikamaru, thought that she asked or made her sister do it.

"Yeah Shikamaru her sister went through all the trouble of making these lunches, so stop standing there and take it," Ino added.

"Yeah, yeah," mumbled Shikamaru as he took the bento from Aya. As Shikamaru took the bento from Aya she felt her ungloved fingertips brush his causing her breath to catch and her cheeks to warm. "Thanks," he directed at her.

"You're welcome," Aya forced out, briefly meeting his gaze and then quickly looking away. She could feel her heart pounding in her chest from the brief contact with Shikamaru's fingertips.

But before she could dwell on her feelings, Ino interrupted her thoughts. "Come on let's get a move on." Without waiting for a response from any of them, Ino headed off.

"Man, she's such a pain." Shikamaru's mumbling caused a smile to form on Aya's lips.

"She is a little bossy." The words slipped out of Aya's mouth before she could stop them. Her eyes widened as she realized that she had said that out loud.

_Maybe he didn't hear._

But as soon as she looked at him, she realized that he had indeed heard her words. At first his expression was surprised, but then his usual bored expression returned. "That's the understatement of the year," he mumbled.

Aya felt her smile return. "She's not that bad."

Shikamaru gave her a skeptical look.

"AYA! SHIKAMARU! YOU COMING OR WHAT?" Ino's voice fell upon them.

Shikamaru sighed. "Like I said understatement of the year."

Aya shrugged. "Maybe just a little bit."

"AYA! SHIKAMARU! COME ON!" Ino again.

Shikamaru glanced back at her. "Definitely more than a little."

Aya could only smile and she continued to smile as the two them rejoined Ino and Choji. As the four of them resumed the walk to the veranda, a little voice inside her warned her that it wasn't good to be so happy, especially over something so small; it told her that she was being unreasonable. However, despite this voice inside her head, Aya couldn't help smiling; there was just something about talking to Shikamaru that made her smile.


	3. Chapter 3

The quartet had finally reached the veranda and each of them had claimed a spot on the balcony. Aya removed the last bento, hers, from her backpack. She took the lid off of her bento revealing the contents within. As usual Midori's bento was a balance of the food groups. As usual it was also cute, but today it seemed even more so than usual. There were rice balls shaped like bears and puppies, sasuage octopus, boiled eggs shaped like baby chicks, veggies shaped like flowers, and apple bunnies. Aya was used to such cuteness and it usually made her smile, but today was different; she wasn't the only one eating these lunches. Her teammates were eating them too and they, unlike her, weren't accustomed to Midori's cute lunches. What if they didn't like the lunches and this somehow caused complications for their team?

Aya inwardly groaned. _Why couldn't Midori just make normal lunches for once?_

"It's so cute!" Aya was pulled from her thoughts by Ino's exclamation, "Aya your sister is awesome."

"Anyone who makes lunches for others is awesome," chimed in Choji who then proceeded to dig in to the bento.

Their comments made Aya feel better. However, she couldn't help from wondering what _he _thought. Her gaze flickered to the boy in question. She watched as he picked up his chopsticks and took his first bite. After that first bite he paused and stared down at the lunch. Aya watched him intently. _Why did he stop? Does he not like it?_ However, soon after she thought this, Shikamaru continued to eat the bento and as he did, she noticed his lips pulling into a small smile. This observation made Aya herself smile. However, at that moment Shikamaru happened to look up and he locked eyes with Aya.

_Crap! I shouldn't have been staring so much; it's rude and not to mention weird and so does not help me blend._

She wanted to look away and pretend that nothing had happened, but she knew that that would only make things worse, so she forced out, "How is the lunch?" Even though she had saw him smile and had initially only asked the question as a way to cover her staring, she found herself really wanting to hear his answer. His opinion shouldn't have mattered so much to her, but it did.

"It's good," replied Shikamaru.

They were only two words and really it was the words that people usually always used in so many situations even if it wasn't necessarily true, but hearing those words made Aya happy and a smile returned to her lips. Maybe those words were overused and their meaning debatable, but Aya believed that he meant it. After all she had seen that smile.

Before she could make the same mistake twice, Aya reverted her gaze back to her own lunch. As she ate, she again recalled Midori's words from that morning: "_Aya, your squad will become like a family to you. You'll form bonds with them that will last for a lifetime_". Even though Aya had told herself that that those words weren't likely to become a reality, she again found herself thinking again that just maybe they could happen. After all, all three of her teammates had been nice so far, none of them had shown her any ill will and they had all accepted and liked the lunches. Was it too much to think that just maybe she could form those type of bonds with her new team?

While she thought this another voice spoke up within her. _Yeah, they're nice now, but they don't really know you. They don't know the real you. What lies behind your carefully composed exterior._

At this thought, Aya's right chop stick holding hand shook and the octopus sausage it had been holding fell back into her bento. Her eye fell upon her left arm where underneath the layers of clothing and bandages lay the bane of her existence. Who was she fooling? They wouldn't accept her because of her left arm and the secret it bore. Hadn't that already been proven? Why would this time be any different? As much as she wanted to be accepted, as much as she wanted to form those types of bonds, she couldn't risk it. Not when it could shatter the normalcy that she had worked so hard to compose.

She snuck another quick glance at Shikamaru, a smile still adorning her lips, but this time it was tainted with sadness. _Even he wouldn't accept me._

She returned her attention to her bento. _Just because I want to be accepted, doesn't mean it will happen. I can't control other people's feelings._

"Naruto! You better not harm a hair on Sasuke's head!" Ino's voice distracted Aya from her thoughts.

Aya looked up to see Naruto sneaking up on Sasuke who was eating his lunch in one of the Academy's storage rooms.

Aya and her teammates waited to see the outcome of Naruto's surprise attack.

Ino let out a joyful squeal when Sasuke emerged from the building. "That's my boy! Naruto stood no chance. Sasuke is the best!"

"Yeah, yeah. We all know how great Sasuke is," Shikamaru retorted, his voice heavy with sarcasm.

Ino glared at Shikamaru. "You're just jealous."

Shikamaru smartly chose not to reply and instead merely rolled his eyes and turned back to his lunch.

Ino sighed. "I can't believe Sakura is on his team. Why her and not me?" She seemed to say this more to herself than anyone else. Her eyes then brightened as she turned to Aya.

_Uh- oh. _Aya braced herself for Ino's question. The blond scooted closer to Aya and asked her in a whisper, "So Aya is there anyone that you like? You don't seem interested in Sasuke, unless you're hiding it." Ino's eyes bored into Aya's.

"No, no hiding. I don't like Sasuke," Aya said, mustering what she hoped was a sincere smile.

It must have worked because Ino's eyes immediately softened. "That's great! Otherwise this team would be a nightmare. We might be stuck with these guys, but at least we have us girls."

She paused although waiting for a response from Aya.

"Um, yeah," replied Aya. She didn't really know how else to reply to that.

However, it seemed to satisfy Ino as she began to talk again. "So if you don't like Sasuke is there someone else?"

Aya shook her head. "No, there's no one." However, as she said that an image of Shikamaru rose in her mind.

"Really? There's no one?" Ino prodded further, her blue eyes again boring into Aya.

Aya shook her head again. "No." No, she didn't like Shikamaru like that-she just wanted…_to be friends. _The three words rose up in Aya's mind before she could stop them and it was then that Aya realized that she really did want to try to be friends with the boy. _But is that even possible?_

Ino opened her mouth to say something else, but was cut off when the bell sounded, indicating that lunch was over.

"Come on you two," said Shikamaru, "Now's not the time for girl talk."

Ino sent him a glare and then pulled herself up. "Come on Aya lets go." She handed the empty bento box back to Aya and then started towards the door of the veranda. Aya put the lid on her own empty bento box and then placed both of them back into her knapsack. When she looked up she was surprised to see Shikamaru standing in front of her. "Here," he held out his and Choji's empty bento boxes. "Thanks," replied Aya. As she put the two boxes back into her knapsack, Shikamaru inquired, "You all right?"

Aya looked up at him. "What do you mean?"

He rubbed his head, his eyes darting off to the sides. "Well it just seemed that Ino was grilling you. Looked rough."

Aya smiled. "Oh that. I'm fine."

Shikamaru nodded. Nothing was said for a moment. Aya sat there wondering why he had gone out of his way to ask such a question. "AYA! SHIKAMARU! YOU COMING?" Ino called out to them.

"Geesh. There she goes again with the yelling," grumbled Shikamaru. He looked down at Aya, "We better get a move on." He held his hand out to Aya.

Aya hesitated for a moment, but then extended her right hand out to him. He grasped it and helped pull her to her feet. As she held his hand her stomach felt fluttery and her heat sped up again. She stood up and his hand left hers. Aya mumbled her thanks, making eye contact and then quickly looking away while she hoped that her cheeks weren't obviously red like they felt. Shikamaru headed towards the door and Aya followed closely behind him, her mind overflowing with thoughts.

_He's so nice to me and he doesn't even know me._ She looked down at her hand that had grasped his, her stomach again getting that fluttery sensation-the type that she got when she was nervous or anxious about something.

_I really do want to be friends with him…but…_

Aya bit her lip.

"Hey Aya. You alright?"

Aya startled by Shikamaru's voice looked up to find the teen staring down at her. He wore his usual bored expression with his hands in his pockets, but the fact that he stopped to ask her that when he could have just continued on without her helped Aya make her decision.

Aya looked up at him, a smile turning up at her lips. "I'm fine. Sorry for holding you up."

Shikamaru let out a sigh, his hand toying with his ponytail again. "It's fine. Let's just hurry up before Ino starts yelling again."

Aya nodded and the two of them proceeded to head to the stairwell. As Aya walked side by side with Shikamaru, she revisited her previous thoughts and decision. _Yes, I try. I'll try to become friends with Shikamaru. But not just him…but with Ino and Choji as well. I think I can get along with both of them, even if Ino's a little bossy…after all being friends with them will make it easier to work as a team._

Of course, as she thought that Aya had no illusions. She knew that she could never reveal everything about herself because that was just too risky. She couldn't risk gambling her standing with them based on chance alone.


	4. Chapter 4

**Thank you to Cho Tamazaki for the review. :) Here's part four; enjoy. :)**

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Aya and her teammates entered their classroom to find it populated with the squad leaders of the newly formed genin squads.

Iruka seeing their entrance said, "Oh Asuma there's your team now."

A tall man with black hair and brown eyes lumbered towards Aya and her squad. Aya noticed that there was a cigarette dangling from his lips. He stopped in front of them. "Hey, how about we find some place outside." Without waiting for a reply he headed out of the classroom. Aya along with the rest of her team followed suit. They followed him outside to the Academy's backyard training grounds.

He positioned himself leaning against a tree, folding his arms across his chest. Aya, Shikamaru, Ino, and Choji sat down on the grass facing him. He addressed them, "I'm Asuma Sarutobi your squad leader." He paused, his gaze looking over each of them. "How about we start off with introductions? Give your name, a hobby or two, and then how about we end with a demonstration of one of your specialized jutsu." He nodded towards Shikamaru. "Let's start with you."

Shikamaru began, "I'm Shikamaru Nara. I like cloud watching and shogi." With that said Shikamaru reluctantly pulled himself up from the ground. He looked over at Choji, "Hey, can you help me out with my technique?"

Choji nodded and stood up, "Sure."

"Just stay there," instructed Shikamaru.

Shikamaru then walked over to where Choji stood, but walked farther away, positioning himself closer to Asuma. With the formation of the rat hand seal, Aya watched as Shikamaru's shadow shot out towards Choji's shadow and attached to it. Shikamaru raised up his left arm and Choji's left arm followed suit. Shikamaru lowered his left arm and Choji's left arm lowered along with his. He then released the jutsu, causing his shadow to retract.

Stuffing his hands in his pockets, Shikamaru addressed Asuma, "That's my shadow possession jutsu."

Asuma nodded. "I wouldn't expect anything less from a Nara." Their then sensei nodded towards Choji. "You next."

As introductions continued on with Choji and then with Ino, Aya found that they, like Shikamaru, also had some pretty impressive jutsus. At last it was her turn. Wishing that she had gone first, Aya began her introduction, "I'm Aya Seino. I like reading." She stood up. She knew what she was going to do. It's wasn't nearly as good as Shikamaru, Choji, or Ino's jutsus, but it was the best she had.

With those thoughts, Aya began the hand seals for the jutsu. As her hands completed the last seal, the landscape changed. Everything around them became more sinister and ominous. The sun beat down upon their skins with an intense biting heat, while at the same time a frigid freezing rain began to fall down from the sky. The grass under Aya's feet browned and shriveled, but this was not the case where Ino was standing. Instead, grass, weeds, ivy, briars, and clover shot up from where she was standing and wound around her feet. Aya heard her teammate let out a surprised gasp. Her eye flickered to Ino briefly, to find her struggling to free herself, but the more she struggled the more the combination grew winding up tightly against Ino, the briars digging into her skin. She tugged at it with her hands, but to no avail. She said, "Why can't I break it?! It's just grass and weeds!"

Ino wasn't the only one fighting against nature. Aya's eye looked over at Choji to see how he was faring. The ground below Choji had softened and his feet had slid right into the softened earth. He was trying to pull his feet out of the ground. Aya watched as he tried to pull his left foot out with his hands but to no avail. Instead his hands came out dripping with brown mud. Choji went to try again, but suddenly stopped. He was staring at his left hand with an expression of horror. Aya knew exactly what had happened; he couldn't move it any more, the mud had thickened and hardened eliminating the possibility of movement.

Aya then turned her attention to Asuma. He wasn't panicking or frightened like Ino or Choji, but instead, regarded his current predicament calmly. The tree he was leaning against had come alive, swatting at him with its branches. Asuma fended off the branches, but the branches were uncharacteristically flexible for tree branches as they twisted, turned, and even grew longer in order to get at him. That wasn't all. Every so often, a small sharp piece of the branch would break off and fly at Asuma, attempting to pierce his skin. He managed to fend off some of them, but others buried into his skin and blood dribbled down from the wounds.

With a grimace Aya switched her gaze from Asuma to Shikamaru. The sight she saw made a sudden wave of fear and nausea fall over her; she felt herself start to shake. Shikamaru was lying on the ground staring up at the sky; he didn't really seem to be doing anything about his situation. Every once in a while, a pained expression crossed his face and from his lips escaped a mumbled, "What a drag." The cause of his pained looks was two twin vines covered in thorns and red roses that were currently wrapped around him from his feet to his waist.

At a quick glance it looked like the vine was growing longer as time passed, however, Aya suspected this wasn't the case. _No. _Her heart started to beat louder and her hands grew clammy. _It can't be._

Aya walked closer to Shikamaru to get a better look at him. She bent down in front of his feet and her eyes widened as her inkling was proven true. The beginning of each vine did not trace their origins from the ground. No, being this close, Aya was quickly able to see otherwise. The beginning of each vine could be traced to the top of Shikamaru's foot. The vine did not wrap around from the bottom of his foot, but rather sprouted right through from each sandal. This met that the vine originated from Shikamaru's foot. In other words each vine had sprouted directly from his foot and this meant they weren't growing, rather the vines were already there. Aya's hunches were proven correct as before her eyes a new portion of the vine glistening with red blood broke through the protective gear and netting of Shikamaru's clothing. Moments later the red blood blossomed into ruby red roses. As the roses blossomed, Aya saw a sudden peaceful look glaze over Shikamaru's features.

"No," Aya whispered. She wanted to hurry away from the horrid plant, but she found herself rooted to the ground.

_No. No. No. No. No._ Words of panic and feelings of fear flooded Aya's mind and body. Her left arm began to throb. She pressed it against her stomach and covered it with her right arm. Her legs were shaking so badly that suddenly they gave out from beneath her and she found herself on the ground.

Even though she wanted to look away, she found herself staring at the red flowers and vines that covered Shikamaru's body. A groan from Shikamaru finally broke Aya's trance. Her head whipped in his direction. He was in pain. These flowers and vines were causing Shikamaru pain. Aya felt her fear begin to trickle away, feelings of anger began to take their place. These vines were causing Shikamaru pain; they had no right to do such a thing. Without further thought, Aya's hands folded around one of the vines and she began to tug at it, ignoring the thorns that bit through her gloves and embedded themselves in her skin. She tugged and tugged, but they just wouldn't budge. Aya heaving from the expended effort, stopped to catch her breath.

"Hey, what are you doing?"

Aya looked up to find that Shikamaru had lifted himself up on his elbows and was staring at her with his brown eyes. His usual nonchalant expression covered his features, but beneath it Aya could see traces of pain. "Think you could end your genjutsu now? It's kind of a drag." At Shikamaru's words, a sudden realization came crashing down on Aya. How could she be so stupid? This was her genjutsu; all she had to do to release Shikamaru was end her jutsu. With still slightly shaking hands, Aya ended the jutsu and released her teammates and sensei from its spell.


	5. Chapter 5

**Thank you to Iguwo1 and Rustedpetals for the reviews. :) Here's part five, hope everyone enjoys it. :)**

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Once Aya released the genjutsu, the landscape once again regained its usual temperament. Nature was no longer intentionally assaulting the team which was a relief to the genin who had been shaken up by the attack. Even Aya, the instigator of the genjutsu, found herself a victim of its illusions. She still kept seeing the rose vines growing from and wrapping around Shikamaru's body. Recalling the image, a shiver ran through her body.

_That wasn't supposed to happen._

She hadn't intended for that to happen to Shikamaru. She had lost control of the genjutsu.

"Alright, now that we're done with introductions, I have an exercise planned for you guys." Asuma's announcement pulled Aya from her thoughts. She looked up at the jounin; he was the only one who seemed unfazed by her genjutsu.

"An exercise?" Ino echoed.

"Yeah. It's a joint exercise that we will carry out with another squad," Asuma explained, "Speaking of, looks like they're here now."

Aya turned her head to get a glimpse of the newcomers. There was an older man with blond hair who looked to be around Asuma's age and behind him followed four teens who looked to be a couple years older than Aya and her squad.

The man spoke, "So Asuma this here's your new squad?"

Asuma replied, "Sure is."

The man glanced again at Aya and her teammates, his blue grey eyes studying each of them in turn. His glance fell upon Aya last. Her brown eye met his blue grey eyes; their gazes locked for a fleeting moment, but then his gaze returned to Asuma. It had only been a moment, but Aya felt like his eyes had seen through her very being.

"I get the feeling that this team will be a strong one," said the main a smile playing across his lips.

"We'll see," answered Asuma, taking a drag from his cigarette.

The man nodded and then turned his gaze back onto Aya and her team. "I'm Hikaru Takamitsu, squad leader of these guys, though nowadays they're capable of standing on their own two feet."

Hikaru addressed his team, "Speaking of which, why don't you guys introduce yourselves?"

Upon Hikaru's words one of the girl's of the squad stepped forwards. She had waist long wavy blue azure colored hair that was pulled back into a ponytail with two strands left flowing freely on each side of her face. She approached the team with a smile. "Hi, it's nice to meet you. I'm Kohana Ryuuou." The girl seemed to exude a warm and friendly personality.

_She reminds me of Midori. Even her eyes have that same kind look…well except for their color._

Kohana's eyes were a warm liquid gold color. It was a color that Aya wasn't used to seeing, but even so they didn't seem strange. Instead, like her smile, they exuded warmness and comfort.

_The feeling they give is completely the opposite of my eyes._ A frown briefly consumed Aya's features. Why did she have to be so different?

"What's wrong with being different?" Startled, Aya looked up to find the second girl of Hikaru's squad, staring at her with dark brown eyes. No. They weren't just dark brown, specks of gold glinted within them. She like Kohana also had unusual eyes. But unlike Kohana's eyes, Aya didn't feel comforted by them, instead, they seemed overbearing to her. She wanted to look away, but couldn't. She found herself starting to shake.

"Akane," Kohana said. The next moment Aya felt herself released from the girl called Akane's gaze.

Kohana addressed Aya, "Sorry about that." Aya looked up and despite her confusion over what had happened felt calmed when she met Kohana's gaze.

Kohana then turned her gaze expectantly towards Akane. Akane met Kohana's gaze and then glanced back at Aya. "Sorry," she said.

"It's all right," Aya automatically replied, even though she was still confused by the whole situation.

Akane gave Aya a nod and then proceeded to stare at her again. She looked like she was about to open her mouth and say something else, but Kohana quickly cut her off. "Akane," her voice carried a clear warning in it.

Akane then turned her gaze onto all of Aya's teammates. "Akane Suzuki." She then looked at Kohana, "I want to see Hiro." She made as though to turn around, but she bumped into one of the boys of their squad that had come up behind her. The boy had silver shoulder length hair that was pulled up into a ponytail.

He smiled down at his teammate. "Not now Akane-chan. We said we would help out Hikaru-sensei remember?"

"We're not done yet?"

He smiled. "Nope." At his words, she took a seat down on the ground pretzel-style.

The silver ponytailed boy addressed Aya's team and raised a hand in greeting. "Hey there. I'm Hoshi Tsukino." His blue eyed gaze skimmed over each of them briefly. "It's pleasure to meet you all."

_That leaves one more._

After Aya thought this, Akane's eyes met hers again and she said, "Aki." Akane pushed herself up from the ground and turned to look at their last team member who was approaching them. The boy wore his dark black hair short and his eyes were a dark forest green. On the boy's shoulder sat a black hawk with white tipped wings. Unlike Kohana and Hoshi, he didn't regard Aya's team with a smile, but instead, a serious expression remained on his face. He approached Akane's side and reached out a hand and ruffled her short barely shoulder length red hair. A smile flickered across the girl's face, her brown eyes lighting up. Then the boy turned his attention to Aya and her team, "I'm Akito Suzuki and this guy's Kuro," he motioned to the hawk sitting on his shoulder.

Hoshi added, "He's also Akane's older brother."

This bit of information caught Aya off guard. She looked from Akane to Akito. _They don't look anything alike._

"Why does that matter?" Akane asked. Aya looked up at the girl shocked. Akane repeated her question, her eyes boring into Aya's again. "Why? Why does that matter?"

"Akane," Akito interrupted her, placing a hand on her shoulder. She turned to look at him, asking him the same question. "Why does that matter?"

At his sister's plea, the teen gave her a smile and ruffled her hair again. "It doesn't Akane."

A smile appeared on the girl's lips. She nodded. "Right, it doesn't matter."

Kohana broke into the conversation, "That's who we are. How about you all?"

Ino started off. "Ino Yamanka."

Choji went next. "Choji Akamichi," he said between mouthfuls of potato chips.

"Shikamaru Nara," Shikamaru stated with a sigh.

"Aya Seino," said Aya, finishing off the introductions for her team.

After these introductions were finished Asuma spoke up, "Right, now that that's out of the way, let's get this exercise started."

He reached into the pockets of his pants and pulled out two woven bracelets. "Here, one for each team." He tossed one of the bracelets in the direction of Aya's team. Aya caught one of the bracelets, while the other was caught by Kohana.

Asuma explained, "In this exercise, each team must try to obtain the bracelet of the other team. The bracelet will be worn on the left wrist of one member of the squad. The member who wears the bracelet is not allowed to engage in offensive combat against the other squad; however, they are allowed to engage in defensive maneuvers and may protect themselves if attacked. The exercise will end when one team obtains the other team's bracelet, however, when obtaining the bracelet it cannot be broken; it must be removed by untying the strings. I'll give each team five minutes to discuss among themselves and decide who will be wearing the bracelet. Your five minutes start now."

Kohana's team gathered at one end of the yard and Aya and her teammates huddled at the other.

Ino turned to Aya. "Aya, you alright? That Akane girl seemed a bit strange."

Mustering a smile, Aya replied, "I'm fine."

Ino returned Aya's smile. "Good."

She then cast her eyes down at the bracelet that Aya held. "Guess we should decide who gets that huh?"

"Yeah," Aya replied looking down at it as well.

"How troublesome." Aya heard Shikamaru mumble, his eyes staring up at the sky. Choji, on the other hand, didn't say anything, but continued to much away on his bag of chips.

"Well, Aya, maybe one of us should take it, seeing as the guys apparently aren't concerned with this exercise," Ino scorned, directing harsh glances at Choji and Shikamaru.

Shikamaru sighed, muttering something about troublesome girls, before saying, "Aya should take it."

Ino and Aya looked over at him. His words shocked Aya. Why her?

He explained, his eyes still staring up at the clouds in the sky, "It's the best choice. Choji, Ino and I all have jutsu that are best put to use as offensive measures."

"Shikamaru's right," affirmed Choji.

"Okay then it's decided. Aya gets the bracelet," Ino confirmed, "Then what about the rest of us? I could use my mind transfer jutsu and willingly get the other team to literally hand over the bracelet."

Shikamaru nodded. "That seems like one of the best ways to get the bracelet without breaking it. But you'll need someone to back you up. My shadow possession jutsu would work best. But even then it's not going to be easy." He let out a sigh. "This is going to be such a drag."

Ino said, "What you don't think we can take them?"

Shikamaru looked down from the clouds to look at her. "We're not even on their level."

Choji nodded in assent. "They're all chunin level."

_Chunin? That's not good. _Thought Aya.

"What!? They're chunin?!" exclaimed Ino.

"Afraid so," Shikamaru sighed, "And to add to that we don't know much about their fighting skills. Those two factors put us at a serious disadvantage."

Aya's eyes widened as something occurred to her that could help them. She spoke up, "The boy with the bird-Akito-don't his parents run a messenger service?"

Ino agreed. "Yeah, now that you mention it, they do."

Aya said, "Then probably he uses that bird of his in battles."

Shikamaru nodded. "He'll most likely be on offense then."

Choji added, "I've heard his sister's also tough."

Shikamaru said, "She'll probably be on offense as well."

"What makes you so sure?" Ino prodded.

"Just a hunch," Shikamaru mumbled, his eyes briefly landing on Aya before looking back up at the sky once more.

It was silent for a moment and then Shikamaru spoke again, "That leaves the other girl Kohana and that guy Hoshi. One with the bracelet and the other as a guard."

"So how are we going to get that bracelet?" Ino wondered.

Shikamaru tugged at his pony tail, thinking and then replied, "Our best bet is for Choji to stand back with Aya while you and I launch an attack at the bracelet wearer and the guard. It's risky seeing as we don't know their techniques or anything much, but it's our best bet."

At the moment Asuma called. "Alright, the five minutes are up. You can begin any time now."

Ino exclaimed, "All right! Let's do this then! Come on Shikamaru lets go!"

"Yeah, yeah," mumbled Shikamaru, "Let's just get this over with."

Ino turned to Aya. "Good luck! Don't let them get that bracelet all right?"

Aya nodded. "I'll do my best."

Ino smiled. "That's what I want to hear." She then addressed Choji, "And you better guard her! Don't let them get near her!"

"Sure," replied Choji.

Shikamaru and Ino then headed over towards the other side of the yard towards Kohana's team, while Aya stayed back with Choji in front of her. Aya checked that the bracelet was tightly secured to her left hand. _I wonder how well this plan is going to work. Shikamaru didn't seem too confident. There's too many unknowns._

"Hey, get ready, they're coming," Choji's voice caused Aya to stop fidgeting with the bracelet and to look up.

Sure enough Akane and her brother Akito were approaching them. _Shikamaru was right. _The two were taking their time walking over; they were certainly not in any rush.

_They also don't look the least bit worried._ They indeed looked cool, calm, and collected as they walked over as though they were confident in their victory. Akito walked with his hands in his pockets; he had on that same serious expression as before, but it also was void of any anxiety. Meanwhile Akane's expression could best be described as bored. She walked alongside Akito, slouching, her eyes focused on the ground, her foot kicking at the grass as they walked.

"Akane! The quicker you get that bracelet the sooner you'll get to see Hiro!" The voice of their teammate Hoshi sounded from across the yard. At those words, Akane froze for a moment. Then she pulled herself up straight and her eyes seemed to be filled with a renewed determination as they looked straight ahead at Choji and Aya. A second later the girl broke out into a run, heading straight for them.  
"I'll get them!" announced Choji. Aya watched as he unleashed his human boulder jutsu. He went flying towards their opponents. He rocketed towards the still speeding forward Akane.

_She's not slowing down. She's gonna crash right into him._

However, at the last possible moment, Akane, kicking off of the ground, jumped into the air. Aya gasped as she jumped clear over Choji. _How in the world did she do that?_ However, Aya did not have long to ponder her thoughts because the girl was coming right for her. Aya quickly moved backwards, trying to put space between her and her oncoming opponent. However, there wasn't really anywhere for her to go.

_What do I do? Choji's busy with Akito. There's not really anywhere to take cover here._

Only one possible solution occurred to Aya, but it could very well be breaking the rules. She bit her lip thinking it over. _I can't use offensive attacks, but Asuma-sensei said we could use defensive maneuvers. I would be using my attack in response to her attack, so technically I'm using it in defense; therefore it becomes a defensive maneuver. That reason might be stretching it, but it's all I have. It's clear that that girl surpasses me in physical power and combat, so this is my best option._

Even though Aya knew that it was her best option, doubt mingled with anxiety still plagued her at the thought of using that jutsu again. She knew that if she used it that the vines and their roses would without a doubt make an appearance in her genjutsu, after all, the genjutsu reflected her true feelings towards plant life and nature. Aya's body began to tremble as the image of the vines and roses wrapping themselves around Shikamaru resurfaced in her memory.

_I don't know if I can use it again…_

However, as Aya thought this, Ino's words came back to her: _"Good luck! Don't let them get that bracelet all right?"_

Ino. Ino was trusting her. Aya's trembling began to lessen. Her teammates…they had all entrusted her with the bracelet. They were all doing their best, so she had to do her best as well. She couldn't let them down. She had to do her part to show that she could pull her own weight on this team; she refused to be a burden.

Aya closed her eyes, took a deep breath and then opened her eyes again. She would use the genjutsu. It was for the sake of her team. She was still weary of the vines and flowers, but she had to remember it was just a genjutsu, just an illusion and it was her genjutsu and that met that it was ultimately hers to control.

Reaching her decision, Aya quickly formed the hand seals for her defensive maneuver and unleashed her genjutsu for the second time that day. Aya watched as upon releasing her jutsu Akane came to a standstill, her eyes clouding over.

_Hopefully I can hold her long enough until Shikamaru and Ino are able to get the bracelet._


	6. Chapter 6

**Thank you to Zabuzasgirl for the review. And thank you to everyone who has been reading this story. Here's the continuation of the exercise with Kohana's squad, enjoy. :)**

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Shikamaru and Ino approached their opponents. The silver haired Hoshi stood in front of his teammate the blue haired Kohana. That meant that she was the one with the bracelet. Shikamaru was unsurprised by this revelation, he had figured as much. From when she first introduced herself, she had seemed like the leader of the team and he could tell that all of her teammates trusted and respected her. She had effortlessly reined in that other troublesome girl that was on their team that had been harassing Aya. Aya…Shikamaru had suggested she hold the bracelet not just because of his and the other's moves being better suited for offensive attacks, but also precisely because of the nature of Aya's genjutsu. While it was an offensive jutsu, it could also become a defensive one. Shikamaru had also precisely chosen Aya because he believed that she would figure out this loophole to Asuma's words.

"Shikamaru! Stop spacing out!" Ino's nagging pulled Shikamaru from his thoughts, "Are we gonna to do this or not?!"

"Yeah, yeah," mumbled Shikamaru.

"Then let's go!" Ino exclaimed, continuing forward.

* * *

"Stop it! Please stop it!" Akane's pleas once again filled the air. Aya watched cringing as the girl's pleas escalated into a blood curdling scream. Then once again the girl's entire body lit up into flame as she attempted to burn the thorny rose vines that covered her entire body. The flames engulfed the vines draining the life from them and causing them to crumble to ash. The flames died down revealing the vine free girl and all was quiet for a moment. Then Akane's eyes, the gold flints intensified by tears, looked straight at Aya and asked in a trembling voice, "Why? Why are you doing this?" Aya felt her heart clench and she once again looked away from the girl. She reminded herself again that it was just a genjutsu, that Akane wasn't physically in danger. But regardless, Aya couldn't help but feel guilty. She didn't know how much longer she could stand this; she looked again at Akane to see a vine dotted with blood erupt from her skin. As the blood blossomed into roses, a peaceful expression crossed Akane's face. But it only lasted for a moment, as a gust of wind soon blew knocking the rose petals from the vine and sending them swirling to the ground. Aya clenched her teeth as Akane's pleas signaled the repeat of the cycle of events once more. Aya balled her hands into fists. She just had to hold on a little longer, just until Ino and Shikamaru got the bracelet.

* * *

_Finally got him._ A satisfied look crossed Shikamaru's face as after quite some trouble he managed to finally capture Hoshi with his shadow possession jutsu. Now the rest was up to Ino. Shikamaru looked up to see the blond slump to the ground. _Looks like it has started._

He watched as Ino's target, the blue-haired Kohana, sunk to the ground onto her knees, her eyes flitting close.

"Kohana!" Hoshi's worried voice sounded.

The mentioned girl's eyes fluttered back open and she promptly stood up. A smirk crossed her lips. Her eyes fastened onto Hoshi. "Sorry, Kohana decided to take a little nap."

Shikamaru found himself smirking as well. Ino had pulled it off.

Ino continued, "Now, I'll just help myself to your bracelet."

"Kohana! Snap out of it!" Hoshi's voice tried to reach his teammate.

"Sorry that's not gonna happen," retorted Ino. She reached down her fingers to untie the bracelet, but suddenly froze.

Shikamaru noticing her hesitation asked, "Ino? What's wrong?"

Ino's hand shot up to her head. "Ugh," she groaned, "Stop it."

"Ino?" Shikamaru asked his teammate again.

Ino's mouth opened, but instead of words coming from them an inhuman bestial snarl erupted from Kohana. At that snarl Shikamaru froze his whole being suddenly racked with an inexplicable feeling of intense fear. He felt as though he had to run. Every fiber of his being was yelling at him to get out of there and to get far away from the girl, but he couldn't move; his gaze was glued to Kohana's golden eyes. With her snarl, the girl's eyes had hardened and her pupils had morphed into oval snake like slits. They were no longer the eyes of a kind hearted human girl, but a terrifying beast.

A moment later the girl's eyes fluttered closed again and then reopened. Her eyes were once again their usual warm liquid gold with kindness instead of murderous intent emanating from them. At once, Shikamaru felt the fear within him melt away as instantly as it had appeared. When he came to his senses it was to realize that he had in his fear let go of his jutsu. "Great," grumbled Shikamaru, "All that effort for nothing. How troublesome." He heard a groan. He looked down to find Ino picking herself up from the ground.

Her green eyes were full of disbelief and confusion as she stared at the blue haired girl. "I don't understand what happened. I had you."

Kohana, once again herself, only smiled. Hoshi who was beside her side echoed her smile. "I think it's about time that we finish this."

Kohana still smiling replied, "I believe it is."

At their words Shikamaru immediately grew suspicious. _What do they mean finish this? The only way to finish this is for one of us to get the other's bracelet. But they are in no position to do so._

As Shikamaru stared at his opponents, trying to figure out exactly what they were up to, Kohana began to form hand seals. Shikamaru's eyes narrowed. What was she up to? It was forbidden for her to launch any offensive attacks against them. Shikamaru's questions were answered as Kohana finished her last hand seal. Shikamaru watched, his mouth opening in disbelief as the girl before him sprouted wings. The wings weren't feathered like a bird, but were webbed and more resembled a bat's except that at each wing tip was a spike of bone.

"What?! How is that even possible!" Ino just as astonished as Shikamaru sputtered.

The two bewildered teens watched as Kohana started running off to their side and moments later she launched herself into the sky. Shikamaru and Ino could only stare at the air born girl who now bore wings that matched the color of her hair.

Ino was the one to break the moment of astonishment. "Great! What do we do now?! How do we even begin to compete with that?!"

Shikamaru answered, still staring up at the girl, "We can't." He realized just then how outmatched they were in this practice exercise.

_They had that ace up their sleeves this whole time. They could have used it anytime they wanted. They were just testing us. Man this is such a drag._

"What do you mean we can't?! We have to do something! If we don't get that bracelet then we can't win!" Ino shrieked.

Shikamaru flinched at the blond's loud voice. She was going to make him go deaf before this day was over. He opened his mouth to reply to her, but stopped as from the corner of his eye he saw their silver haired opponent began to make his move. Shikamaru turned his full attention onto the teen. Hoshi pulled a scroll from one of his pouches and bit his thumb.

_A summoning jutsu? _Shikamaru wondered.

Shikamaru's theory was proven correct as in a puff of smoke a creature appeared by Hoshi's side. The creature was a grey haired wolf with blue eyes that mirrored Hoshi's own eyes. Without warning, the creature opened its mouth and proceeded to howl. A second later Hoshi himself opened his mouth and his own howling joined the wolf's. Before Shikamaru could ever register the strangeness of the sight, he felt a feeling of dizziness overtake him, spots began to dance before his eyes, and his ears begin to ring. He staggered, almost falling over, but caught himself. He felt downright nauseous. And his ears just kept ringing. He clapped his hands over them, but it didn't help. He swayed again and this time decided to lower his self onto the ground. Somewhere in the back of his mind he registered Hoshi and his wolf moving away from them and towards the other side of the yard, towards Aya and Choji, but there was nothing he could do as his ringing ears, blurry vision, and building nausea left him incapacitated.

* * *

Aya continued to watch Akane's agony, over and over again; she had lost count of just how many times the sequence had repeated itself. She just kept hoping that each time would be the last, but it had yet to happen. Aya felt herself starting to grow tired, maintaining the genjutsu was depleting her chakra. She again hoped that Shikamaru and Ino got the bracelet soon. She wanted to end this repetitive genjutsu; it was the same heart wrenching scene over and over again.

Aya gasped and clutched her left shoulder. Out of nowhere a shocking pain had made it suddenly throb. She removed her hand to take a look at her shoulder. Her eyes widened as she realized the streaks of blood that were on her fingers. She looked to her shoulder to see that both layers of her clothing and even the bandages were torn apart exposing her flesh that was cut and bleeding.

_What's going on?_

Aya let out a small cry as a similar stinging pain ran through her right shoulder. She turned her attention to the wound seeing that it was the same as her left shoulder. Searching her surroundings, Aya quickly found her attacker. It was Akito's hawk. It was currently circling around her head regarding her with beady eyes. However, it didn't look like it was going to attack again anytime soon. It was just keeping an eye on her. As Aya watched the bird, a sudden whistle pierced the air and it flew away from her. Aya watched as it flew back to its master and perched itself back on his shoulder. Akito had returned which meant that Choji had been defeated. Sure enough Aya spotted him lying unconscious a little ways away. She returned her glance to Akito. He was helping a pale faced Akane up to her feet. Seeing that they weren't paying attention to her, Aya decided to go check on Choji.

Aya walked over to wear Choji lay. She knelt down in front of him. "Choji?" she addressed him. At her words he left out a groan and slowly opened his eyes. He stared at her. "Aya?"

"Yeah, it's me," Aya replied.

"You okay?" he asked. His eyes then widened, "You're bleeding!" His eyes stared at her shoulders.

Aya mustered a smile. "It's nothing. Just a scratch. I'm fine." Even though she said this, in reality her wounds stung pretty badly, but she didn't want Choji worrying about her.

"Are you okay?" She asked him.

"I'll be fine," said Choji. With a grunt he pushed himself off the ground and stood up.

Aya pulled herself back up. "Glad to-" She was cut off as howling filled the air. _What is that? _Before she could ponder her question, the howling intensified and Aya felt herself overwhelmed by waves of dizziness and nausea. She staggered.

"W-What's happening?" She heard Choji splutter next to her.

She couldn't answer though. Spots were dancing in front of her eyes and she found that everything was growing dimmer, color was fading from her vision, everything was becoming veiled by shadows. Vaguely she felt her legs give out from under her. She expected to hit the hard ground, but instead, felt someone catch her. As her body had succumbed to the affects of the howling, her mind finally did too and Aya found her world plunged into darkness.


	7. Chapter 7

**Thank you to CyberChick315 for the review. :) And now here's the conclusion to the exercise with Kohana's team, enjoy. :)**

* * *

Aya felt a warm hand brush against her forehead. The warm hand felt soothing and comforting to her aching body.

"Midori?" She mumbled.

"No, not Midori," a voice responded. At the sound of this voice, Aya's eyes snapped open. Her eyes met brown gold flecked ones. Aya realized with a jolt that those eyes were looking into both of her eyes, her brown eye and her usually covered green eye. The hand that she had felt was holding back her bangs from her green eye.

"Akane," Kohana's firm voice sounded as the blue haired girl landed beside them. At Kohana's utterance Akane pulled back her hand and Aya felt her vision limited again as her bangs fell back over her left eye.

"You eyes are pretty, not strange," Akane uttered catching Aya off guard. Aya stared wordlessly at her not knowing how to respond. _She thinks my eyes are pretty?_

"Yes, they're pretty," repeated Akane. Aya's bewilderment increased at Akane's words. The way she repeated herself, it was as though she was responding to a question, but Aya hadn't asked a question, not out loud at least. Aya stared at the girl. _It's like she can read my thoughts…_

"I can," Akane spoke up again.

Before Aya could mull over the strangeness of Akane's declaration, Kohana interrupted, "I can heal your injuries if you would like."

At Kohana's words, Aya recalled the pain in her shoulders. Her eyes widened as she recalled everything that had happened. _The bracelet! _At this thought, Aya immediately looked down at her left arm. Of course the bracelet was no longer there.

"Oh, I have it Aya-chan," Hoshi announced. Aya looked up to see the silver haired youth standing off to her side and holding up the bracelet for her to see. Aya felt her stomach clench. _I've failed._

Kohana said, "Don't be hard on yourself. You and your team did really well."

Akane added, "Yes, that genjutsu was very impressive."

Aya felt a slight wave of guilt at Akane's mention of her genjutsu.

"It's fine. You were just doing what you had to," Akane said.

Kohana added, "Yes, our team caused you pain as well."

Aya's fingered the cuts on her left arm. "It's not that bad."

Kohana smiled. "Nevertheless, let me heal it."

Aya hesitated. In order to heal her arm, Kohana would have to remove the bandages on her left arm and if she did then she would see _it. _

Kohana coaxed, "It's okay. I'll just replace the bandages that were cut. It'll be fine, I promise."

At Kohana's words, Aya looked up at the girl. Once again she found herself soothed as her eyes met Kohana's, but still she felt some doubt at showing Kohana _it_.

Kohana, not deterred at all, continued to smile. "Let me show you something." Without warning, blue wings suddenly appeared on Kohana's back. Aya stared wide eyed at them.

_Wings! She has wings!_

"Yes, I have wings," Kohana echoed.

Kohana's response also revealed something else about the blue haired girl to Aya. _And apparently you can read minds too. _

"Mhm," confirmed Kohana, "So how about I heal your wounds now?"

Aya finally gave in and gave Kohana a nod.

With Aya's consent, Kohana approached the girl. As promised, Kohana only removed the bandages that were damaged. Even though Kohana had shown Aya that she too had her own secrets that made her different from everyone else, Aya was still nervous that Kohana was going to be repulsed by her left arm. However, Kohana didn't say anything and instead, surprised Aya by clasping her hands together as though she was praying and closing her eyes. After a little while, Kohana's right hand began to glow and her eyes flickered back open. She then placed her right hand gently onto Aya's right shoulder. At Kohana's touch, Aya felt a slight sting, but when the sting subsided the pain had as well. As Kohana removed her still glowing hand from Aya's shoulder, Aya glanced to see that not a trace of the cuts remained. _Amazing. _

"Thank you," Aya mumbled, still staring transfixed at her arm as Kohana finished tying a new bandage into place.

"You're welcome." Kohana then proceeded to heal Aya's other arm.

As Kohana finished healing Aya's right arm, Ino, Shikamaru, and Choji came over to where Aya was. Upon seeing them, Aya felt guilty again. She forced herself to meet their eyes. "Guys I'm sorry."

Ino shook her head. "Don't worry about it Aya; it was just a practice exercise." The blue eyed blond gave Aya a smile. Aya forced herself to return the smile. Despite Ino's reassurance, Aya still couldn't help to feel bad. It was her job to protect the bracelet and she had failed. She had failed all of them. Her eyes glanced from Ino, to Choji, to Shikamaru. As her gaze landed on Shikamaru, their eyes locked.

"It wasn't just your fault. We all failed. It was a team exercise after all," Shikamaru said. At his words, Aya felt better, yet at the same time she felt worse. _It was a team exercise, but I failed my part. I failed my team. I failed Shikamaru._

"Well looks like this exercise is over," Asuma's announcement caused the group of young ninja to turn their attention towards the jounin.

Asuma continued, "Congratulations to Hikaru's squad for getting the other team's bracelet; I wouldn't have expected any less from you guys."

Hikaru interrupted, "Good job guys."

Asuma continued again, "Now my squad. All of you also did a good job, despite being outranked. You devised a strategy that best suited the situation and your own abilities and carried it out." He paused taking a puff of his cigarette. "Congratulations on passing the genin certification exam; squad ten is now official."

Asuma's words caught all of squad ten off guard. Aya stared in shock at Asuma. _That was an exam? We weren't really official genin before? We still had to take another test?_

"WHAT! THAT WAS AN EXAM?!" Ino's exclamation mirrored Aya's own thoughts.

Asuma explained, "Yes. Every other squad will also undergo an evaluation by their squad leader. In the end only twelve genin, three teams, will actually become official genin."

"So the graduation exam wasn't the real test after all," Shikamaru sighed, "How troublesome."

"No, the graduation exam was simply to determine that each individual had the required skills needed. The certification exam tests you on the ability to work as a team and efficiently carry out missions," Asuma replied.

What was bothering Aya more about this revelation of events was that only twelve academy graduates out of their entire class would actually become genin. Less than half of her total class would make it. But she had made it. Somehow her and her team had pulled it off.

"Well that's all for today. I'll notify you when I receive word about our first mission. Relax and take the rest of the evening off," Asuma concluded.

Hikaru addressed his team. "You guys do the same and remember that we leave for a mission in two days time. Make sure you're prepared."

His team echoed their replies. Hikaru then turned to Asuma and the two began their own conversation.

Ino asked Aya, "So what are you going to do now?"

Before Aya could reply, she felt a slight tickle on her left shoulder.

"Aya there's a bird on your shoulder," Ino voiced.

Aya looked at her shoulder and saw that there was indeed a small yellow bird perched on her shoulder.

"Kiro." Akane appeared by Aya's side. She held out her hand and the bird landed on her palm. The bird twittered at Akane and Akane nodded. "Okay, I'll tell them." Akane then turned to her squad, "We're meeting Hiro and his squad at D & C's for dinner." She then turned to Aya, "Your squad is to come as well for dinner; Cain's treat."

Kohana added, "She means that you are welcome to come, but it's your choice. Cain's a member of Hiro's squad and his parents are the owners of D & C's."

Choji was the first one to speak up, "Count me in!"

Ino piped up, "Sounds great!"

Aya hesitated; while the offer was nice, she wasn't sure if Midori had already planned something. Also while she had enjoyed the time with her new squad, she would like some time to herself. Aya wasn't the only one who was hesitant; Shikamaru also remained silent.

Ino said, "Aya you're coming right?"

Aya started, "Well…"

Akane spoke up, "Come."

Kohana added, "It'll be a good time."

"Cain's family's food is definitely something not to pass up," Hoshi chimed in.

Aya felt herself start to cave. "I'll go," she relinquished.

Ino grinned, "Good." She then addressed Shikamaru, "You coming or not?"

It was silent for a moment and then Shikamaru replied, "I guess I'll come."

Kohana smiled. "Great. Shall we head over there now then?"

Everyone chimed in their agreement and the two teams headed off to the restaurant.


	8. Chapter 8

**Thank you to cyberchick135 for the continued support; your comments are very much appreciated. :) ...And now here's part eight, enjoy everyone. :)**

* * *

The group arrived at the restaurant to find the building completely dark, not a single light on. Not even a light was on upstairs where the family of the shop lived.

_I wonder what's going on?_

"Well that's bizarre," noted Ino, "You sure we were invited here?" She turned to Akane, "Um, maybe you misunderstood the bird?"

Akane shook her head. "No. I understood Kiro just fine."

While they were talking, Aya's eyes landed on the sign that declared that the restaurant was indeed closed. Yet something seemed strange to her; according to the regular hours of the restaurant, it should be open on this day at this time. She turned around, meeting the gaze of Shikamaru. "The sign says closed, but according to their hours they should be open."

Shikamaru responded, "Something smells fishy here."

Choji responded, "No! Not fish! But I smell something else!" Choji stepped forward, grabbed the doorknob, and twisted. Aya watched as the door opened. Choji strode forward with purpose and the rest of the group followed him.

Once they were all inside, the lights suddenly flicked on and they were momentarily blinded by light.

"Congratulations!" A chorus of voices called out to them. With the lights on, Aya could now see that the room was filled with people. Some people she recognized, but some she did not.

Aya was shocked by the congregation of people, but then she caught sight of the banner that was strung from the ceiling. It read: "Congratulations Ino, Choji, Shikamaru, and Aya ." That meant that this was a party for them.

"This is for us?" Ino asked incredulously.

A girl with oak colored pig tails and turquoise hued eyes answered, "Yup, it's to congratulate all of you on becoming genin." Aya noticed that the same yellow bird from before sat on her shoulder.

"That's Reina. Kiro is her bird." Aya jumped slightly at Akane's voice. She turned to see that the girl was now standing by her side.

"Does that mean that all that food is for us?" Choji asked pointing towards the center of the room. Aya's gaze followed his finger to see that in the middle of the room an assortment of food lined the tables.

"Yes, yes, my boy, it's all for you to enjoy," a man with blond hair and wired glasses replied with a chuckle.

"He's Cain's father, the main chef," Akane supplied.

"Awesome!" Choji exclaimed, causing some of the other people present to chuckle.

"Well then let's all dig in!" This came from a grinning boy with spiked honey-blond hair and emerald green eyes.

"Cain," said Akane referring to the boy's name.

After Cain's words, everyone starting making their way over to the food.

"Hey Aya," Aya turned towards Ino to see that a girl with her brown hair streaked with purple and twisted up into two side buns stood by Ino. "This is Ava her family owns this restaurant," introduced Ino, "Ava this is Aya my teammate."

The girl gave Aya a smile. "Hey, nice to meet ya."

Aya mustered a smile. "Nice to meet you too."

Ino continued, "We're going to get some food and then sit at one of the booths over there," she pointed over to a booth, "You should come join us."

"Okay, though I want to say hi to my sister first." Aya had noticed, unsurprisingly, that Midori was one of the people in the crowd.

"Sure that's no problem. We'll just be over there, so you know where to find us." Ino and Ava then headed off to get some food.

Aya felt a tug on her left sleeve. She looked over to see Akane staring at her. "Come meet Hiro," the redhead said.

"Uh, okay," replied Aya. For some reason that Aya could not comprehend, it seemed like Akane had taken an interest in her.

"Let's go then," said Akane, her hand still clasped on Aya's arm. Akane proceeded to tug Aya through the small crowd of people. They came to a halt in front of a group of three people. Two of them were the blond haired boy Cain and the turquoise eyed pig tailed girl Reina. The third person was a boy with short cinnamon brown hair and red violet eyes; Aya presumed that this boy was Hiro. "Hiro," Akane said her eyes landing on the red violet eyed boy. Akane let go of Aya's arm and walked over to the boy, stopping in front of him.

"Hey Akane," he smiled and stepped forward giving the girl a hug. Akane returned his hug and then the two broke apart, but continued to hold hands. Aya was surprised by their hand holding.

_Are they boyfriend and girlfriend?_

"Yup that they are." Aya was startled as these words were whispered into her ear. She turned her head to find Reina by her side.

The girl gave Aya a big smile. "Oopsie, sorry, didn't mean to scare you. I just noticed your staring and thought that's what was bothering you."

Aya shook her head. "It's alright and I was…um...wondering." Aya felt her cheeks flush at her admission. What was it with her staring at people today? It was getting her into trouble.

Unfortunately for Aya, Reina picked up on her feelings. "No need to be embarrassed. There's nothing wrong with being curious. After all curiosity might have killed the cat, but in the end satisfaction brought it back."

"Um, right," replied Aya, Reina's comment only causing her to turn redder.

"This is Aya." Akane's utterance of Aya's name caused the addressed girl to refocus on Akane and Hiro.

Hiro smiled at Aya, "Nice to meet you Aya; I'm Hiro."

Aya mustered a smile. "Nice to meet you too Hiro." It was now that Aya was able to get a good look at Hiro that she noticed that he had cat-like ears. Cinnamon brown cat-like ears stuck out from his hair.

"Hiro, I'm hungry," declared Akane.

Hiro looked down at the red head. "Let's get some food then." He then addressed Aya, "Your welcome to sit with us. We'll be sitting over there at that table with the rest of Akane's squad."

"Okay, thanks," replied Aya. She watched as Akane tugged Hiro over towards the food; Aya's eyes briefly registered that Hiro had a long cinnamon brown cat-like tail. Aya let out a sigh. She felt exhausted. She had met so many new people today and not to mention had that exercise. She was pretty hungry too, but before she ate she wanted to say hi to her sister.

Aya scanned the crowd of people until she saw her sister Midori. Aya made her way over to Midori who sat at a table with some other people.

"Midori," Aya greeted her sister.

"Hi Aya," Midori smiled, "Congratulations on passing your certification exam."

"Thanks," said Aya, "About that, how did you guys put together this party so fast?"

Midori replied, "Oh, we've been planning this since you graduated."

Aya eyed her sister skeptically, "But I didn't even know who was on my team till today and you didn't even know if we were going to pass or not."

Midori only smiled. "I knew you would pass."

Aya groaned, "So you were just going on a feeling?"

Midori continued to smile. "You could say that."

Another voice interrupted, "We all had faith that you would pass."

Aya turned her attention to her sister's orange haired, green eyed best friend. "Hi Michiru," she greeted.

"Hi Aya, congratulations on your success." Michiru smiled.

"Yes, congratulations." This came from Izumo Kamizuki, Michiru's boyfriend, who sat next to her, an arm slung across her seat. Aya had met Izumo before, but didn't know him too well.

"Yeah kiddo congratulations." Aya's glance landed on the last remaining occupant of the table: Kotestu Hagane. Aya vaguely remembered him coming over a lot when she had first moved in with Midori, but then sometime over the years he had stopped coming.

"Thanks," Aya addressed all of her sister's friends, "I'm going to grab something to eat."

"Have fun," Midori called as Aya turned away from the table.

With a plate full of food in one hand and a drink in the other, Aya started to make her way to where Ino was only to almost be run over by two little girls who were giggling and running.

"Rose! Lina! Give me back my journal!" Another girl's voice called after them. Aya's ninja training kicked in as she managed to dodge the two little girls. However, she was not as lucky with the third girl. While Aya managed to avoid completely colliding with the girl, the girl still hit Aya's arm. Unfortunately, the girl hit the arm that Aya held her drink in causing most of her drink to splash onto Aya's sweatshirt.

"Oh! I'm so sorry!" The girl, fidgeting with the rims of her red framed glasses, exclaimed staring at Aya's sweatshirt in horror.

"Um, it's not a big deal," said Aya, staring down at the big wet spot on her sweatshirt.

"No, no, no; there's no excuse for it," said the girl shaking her head rapidly, "The least I can do is wash it for you. Let me do that okay?" She held out her hand for the sweatshirt.

Aya stared at the girl; it really wasn't a big deal, but since the girl insisted, Aya unzipped her jacket and took it off.

"Oh no! I'm so sorry!" Aya looked up at the girl's outburst and noticed that the girl was staring at Aya's shirt. Aya looked down and frowned when she saw that the liquid had managed to seep through onto her white button down shirt. Though it wasn't too bad; it was only slightly damp.

"You have to let me wash that too!" The girl exclaimed.

"It's all right, it's only slightly wet," said Aya.

"No, no, no. You must let me wash it!" The girl insisted.

Aya inwardly sighed, might as well just do as she said. "All right." Aya began to unbutton the shirt.

"WAIT!" the girl screeched.

Aya, startled, looked up at the girl. The girl stared at Aya with wide chestnut hued eyes. "I'll let you borrow one of my shirts, so…"

Aya reassured her, "It's fine, I'm wearing a tank top under this."

The girl let out a breath of relief. "Oh, okay. That's good."

Aya finished unbuttoning the shirt and handed it over to the girl. The girl smiled, "Alright, I'll go wash these. Don't worry I'll have them done before you leave." With those words, the girl dashed off. Aya stared after the girl, watching her waist length dark brown hair that was gathered into a low ponytail bounce with every step she took. As she was trying to process everything that had just happened, it dawned on her that she didn't even know the girl's name.

"Excuse me." Aya, jostled from her thoughts, turned around to see a young blond haired woman standing with the two children that had previously run from Aya.

The young woman addressed the children, "Now what do you say?"

The children looked uneasily at Aya. "We're sorry."

Aya gave them a smile she hoped was reassuring. "It's alright."

The children seemed to brighten at Aya's words. One of them turned to the young woman, "Can we go play now?"

The woman nodded. "Yes, but no more running and no more stealing Adriana's journals."

"Okay," the children both chorused before scampering off.

With the children gone, the young woman turned her attention to Aya. "I'm really am sorry about that. They tend to get carried away."

"It's okay," reassured Aya.

The woman introduced. "I'm Serenity, one of the daughters of this restaurant's owners. The two little girls are my sisters Celina and Rose. The other girl who went to wash your clothes is my sister Adriana."

"I'm Aya."

Serenity smiled. "Nice to meet you Aya."

"Nice to meet you too," returned Aya.

Serenity glanced at Aya's tank top. "If you're cold I could get you a sweatshirt to wear over that."

Aya shook her head. "Thanks, but I'm okay."

"Okay, but please feel free to let me know if you get chilly."

Aya nodded.

"Also congratulations on becoming a genin."

"Thanks."

"You're welcome. Well I better go; I'm supposed to be attending the bar." With one final smile, Serenity headed back to her station. After that incident, Aya felt that all of her energy had been depleted and really wanted to just sit down and eat. However, while she was really hungry and tired, she still felt uneasy about wearing just her tank top. Wearing the tank top exposed her bandaged up left arm. She quickly scanned the bandages with her gaze, double checking the part that Kohana had wrapped new bandages over. Aya nodded to herself. Everything seemed fine. Feeling reassured, Aya picked her plate back up and headed over to refill her drink. Hopefully she would be able to do that and make it to the table with no further incidents.

* * *

Aya finished eating her piece of strawberry cheesecake. All around her was the sound of lively chatter and banter. Everybody was enjoying the evening of celebration. However, while Aya was having a good time, she felt like she could use some fresh air and quiet, some alone time. Aya got up from her seat, threw her trash away, and then headed to the side door that led to the outdoor tables and seating. She opened the door and stepped out into the nighttime air. The door closed behind her and the quiet darkness of the night replaced the lively and noisy atmosphere of the restaurant. Aya let out a sigh; the silence and nighttime air felt refreshing. Aya looked up at the dark sky; the moon and stars were shining brightly tonight.

_The stars are pretty tonight._ Aya smiled. She walked towards the flower covered arch that led to the land outside of the seating area. Once outside the arch, Aya could see a path that looked like it led to a pond. To the left of the arch was a playground area with a swing set, slide, and sandbox. Then to the right was an area of grass. _Wait a second._ Aya looked closer at the grass, squinting her eyes in the dark; it looked like somebody was lying in the grass. Aya walked into the grassy area and sure enough there was a familiar pony tailed brunette laying there with his eyes closed. _I wonder if he's sleeping?_ Aya smiled to herself. _He looks so peaceful._

Aya decided to take a seat beside him. As she sat down, his eyes flicked open and landed on her. "Oh, it just you," Shikamaru said.

"Sorry, did I wake you?" asked Aya.

Shikamaru shook his head.

"Have you been out here long?"

"Maybe about half an hour." Shikamaru yawned, "Man, I'm beat."

"Yeah today was tough," commented Aya. Aya had felt tense around so many people in the restaurant, but like earlier in the day she found herself feeling at ease and comfortable around Shikamaru.

Shikamaru sighed, "It was way too troublesome."

His comment caused Aya to smile. At that moment, a gust of wind blew through the area. Aya shivered, crossing her arms in front of her in an attempt to warm herself up. She really wished that she had her sweatshirt. It was chilly in just her tank top.

Shikamaru said, "Your sweatshirt still being washed huh?"

Aya was startled by his mention at her sweatshirt. If he knew that her sweatshirt was being washed that meant that he must have seen that whole incident. Aya felt her cheeks burn at the thought. It bothered her that he had seen that. "Yeah," she mumbled.

"That's a drag," replied Shikamaru.

"Mmhm," Aya agreed.

It was a silent for a moment and then Shikamaru spoke, "Look if you want you can use my jacket."

Aya felt her cheeks heat up again. "Um, uh, it's okay. I'm fine. Really." The last thing Aya wanted to do was trouble her teammate. _Also, the thought of wearing his jacket is just…it's just…so awkward. _Aya's felt her cheeks burn even more as she thought about it and it made her stomach do somersaults.

Shikamaru gave Aya an unconvinced stare and then shrugged, his eyes turning to look at the stars. "If you say so."

Aya also turned her eyes to look at the stars. _They really are pretty tonight. _As she stared at the stars, Aya felt all her stress of the day begin to ebb away. The quiet night made her mind and body feel at peace. Aya stifled a yawn with her hand. Her eyes suddenly felt really heavy and tired, so she closed them. _I'll just rest them a little_.

* * *

Shikamaru cast a glance at his teammate. He let out a sigh. It looked like she had fallen asleep.

"Troublesome girl, she's gonna catch a cold," he mumbled to himself.

Despite the girl's earlier protests, Shikamaru shrugged out of his jacket. He leaned over and draped his jacket over her. As he did so, the wind blew shifting Aya's bangs out of her face. Shikamaru froze as he caught sight of her pastel green eye. He stared at it entranced. The color was unlike anything he had seen before; the color was soothing and peaceful. Shikamaru felt the same type of peace and comfort from looking at it like he did staring at the clouds. The wind stopped blowing and Aya's bangs fell back over her eye, once again veiling it from sight and breaking Shikamaru's trance. His trance broken, it then occurred to Shikamaru how close he was to the girl. At this revelation, a light blush crept across Shikamaru's cheeks. He quickly pulled himself away from the girl.

He glanced at the girl once more. "Troublesome girl," Shikamaru muttered watching her sleeping form. However, despite his categorizing of the girl, a slight smile pulled up at the corners of the young slacker's lips and that slight smile remained as he returned his gaze to the stars.


	9. Chapter 9

"Mmm warm," mumbled Aya a small smile of contentment played on her lips as she gradually began to awaken from her slumber. Her left arm and hand felt the kind of warmth and tingling feeling that it only got when it was exposed to direct sunlight.

_Wait…direct sunlight? _Aya's eyes immediately snapped open at this thought. She immediately took in her surroundings, confirming that it was indeed day time as rays of sunlight streamed through the window overlooking her bed.

_Bed? I'm in my bedroom._ Aya's current location confused her. The last thing she remembered was that it was nighttime and that she was outside lying in the grass staring up at the stars with Shikamaru.

Aya frowned. She had no memory of returning home, but nevertheless here she was lying in her own bed. As she thought this, her gaze landed on a jacket that was laid over her desk chair. Aya's eyes widened at seeing the jacket. _What? No it couldn't be! _Aya hastily threw off her covers and hurried over to her desk chair.

She let out a shaky breath as she realized that the jacket was indeed what she thought it was. It was without a doubt Shikamaru's jacket. "But how? What happened?" Aya asked herself, frantically recalling last night night's events. _I remember him asking if I wanted to use his jacket, but I said no, so why is it here?_

Aya could only think of one person she could ask. _Midori. She has to know. _Aya scrambled over to her bedroom door, flung it open, and darted out of her room.

Aya found Midori in the kitchen making muffins. "Midori!"

Midori looked up at her younger sister. "Aya? What's wrong?"

"How did I get here? The last thing I remember was being at the restaurant."

"Oh, I carried you back home. You looked so peaceful sleeping I didn't want to wake you."

Aya nodded, she had figured that part as much, but that still didn't answer the most important part of her worries. Aya felt her cheek's heat up at the thought of Shikamaru's jacket in her room; she just couldn't bring herself to directly ask Midori, so instead she tried another tactic. "Midori where's my sweatshirt?" Certainly if she had her sweatshirt, she wouldn't have had Shikamaru's jacket.

"Oh, unfortunately there was a mishap with the washing machine, so your sweatshirt and blouse didn't get washed last night. Though Adriana insisted that she would wash it and return it sometime today," Midori answered as she stirred blueberries into the muffin batter.

"Oh, okay," replied Aya. While Midori's answer explained Aya's missing sweatshirt, it still didn't completely answer her questions about Shikamaru's jacket. Aya stood there trying to figure out how to ask Midori about the jacket. Aya took a breath and then asked, "M-midori?"

"Hmm?" replied her sister as she proceeded to mix the muffins.

"The jacket on my desk chair…" Aya trailed off unable to continue any further. Her palms were sweaty and her cheeks were flushed.

Midori looked up at Aya and smiled. "You mean Shikamaru's jacket?"

"Y-yeah," sputtered Aya, "W-why is it there?"

Midori's smile widened at her younger sister's nervous state. "Oh, since your sweatshirt was still being washed he told me that you could return it at a later time."

"Oh, okay," Aya replied. She still would like to know how she came to possess the jacket in the first place.

_He must have put it on me while I was sleeping; that's the only possible answer. But why? I told him I was fine. He must have known I was lying, but still I told him I didn't want it. I didn't want to cause any trouble for him and now I did… But it was nice of him. _Aya's lips curved up into a small smile at this last thought.

"Oh Aya, I have an idea." Aya startled from her thoughts looked up at her sister. "What?" she asked Midori.

"How about you take the jacket over to Shikamaru's and you can bring his family some of these muffins?" Midori suggested this with a smile.

Aya felt her nervousness return at Midori's suggestion. "Well I was just going to give it back to him the next time our team meets."

"But don't you think he would appreciate it if you brought it back to him today and brought some muffins along with you?"

"But I was going to spend the day outside reading." Aya quickly formulated her day's schedule. After yesterday's action packed day, she just wanted some peace and quiet and alone time.

"Oh you can still do that too. Just drop off the jacket and muffins on your way to your reading spot," Midori countered.

Aya inwardly groaned. Her sister just wasn't going to let this one slide. "Fine, I'll do it," Aya conceded.

Midori continued to smile as she now poured the batter into the muffin pans. "Great. These muffins won't take too long, so go get changed up okay?"

"Alright," Aya mumbled. Aya dragged herself back to her room, lamenting her fate.

_Why does Midori always have to complicate things?_

Aya sighed as the simple answer came to her. _Because she's Midori._

* * *

Aya stood in front of the door to the Nara household. She cradled a bag of muffins in her left hand and a bag with Shikamaru's jacket dangled from the same arm. Her right hand was held frozen in the air-halfway to the front door. Aya could feel the panic starting to build up within her. Why had she let Midori talk her into this? It wasn't too late; she could just leave.

Aya took a big breath and shook her head. No. She was already here. All she had to do was knock on the door, then hand over Shikamaru's jacket and the muffins and then she would be able to carry on with her day as planned. _Really it'll be over before I know it. It's nothing to fret over._ Before she could lose her newfound resolve Aya brought her hand down on to the door and knocked. A moment of waiting occurred and then the door was pulled open and Aya stood face to face with a woman who was most likely Shikamaru's mother.

"H-hi, is Shikamaru home?" Aya added hastily, "I'm Aya; I'm on his squad."

The woman gave her a wide smile. "Hi Aya. I'm Yoshino, Shikamaru's mother." She then let out a sigh. "I'm afraid Shikamaru isn't home right now. He's probably off somewhere lazing around. That boy's always disappearing when there's work to be done."

"Oh, okay," Aya replied, trying to figure out what to say next. Then she remembered the muffins. "These are for you. They're muffins, my sister made them." Aya held out the bag of muffins.

Shikamaru's mother's eyes lit up. "Oh! Thank you very much." She took the muffins from Aya. "Tell Midori I said thank you."

Aya nodded. "Sure."

"She makes the most lovely smelling perfumes and her flower arrangements are fabulous as well. I'm sure she takes good care of you."

"Yeah, she does," Aya replied feeling slightly uncomfortable.

"I heard that she was also a talented kunoichi too," continued Shikamaru's mother.

"Y-yeah," replied Aya. Now she was really starting to feel uncomfortable. She had heard before how talented a kunoichi her sister was and it bothered Aya because she knew that the reason Midori had retired from her ninja duties was to take care of her.

"Well I'm sure you have things to do, so I'll let you go. Make sure you look after that lazy son for me okay?"

"Of course," Aya replied.

"Have a great day dear."

"Thanks. You too." After bidding Mrs. Nara goodbye Aya turned and headed back down the path to the road.

She had given Shikamaru's mother the muffins, but she couldn't bring herself to give her his jacket. At the thought she felt the heat rise in her cheeks. She shook her head. No that would have been too awkward. Way too awkward.

Aya sighed. She would just have to give it to him the next time their squad met like she had originally planned.

Well at least now she could finally read her book in peace at her secret spot. Aya's mood brightened and her previous anxiety melted away at the thought of reading more of her favorite book.

* * *

As Aya approached the grassy hilltop that was her secret spot, her lips turned downwards in a frown as her eyes squinted into the distance. Somebody was lying in the grass. Apparently her secret spot wasn't so secret after all. Aya felt a slight twinge of annoyance. Was a nice quiet place to read too much to ask?

However Aya felt her annoyance drain away as she realized that the somebody was a certain pony tailed brunette who was staring up at the sky. It was Shikamaru. She approached him and took a seat beside him. "Hi," she greeted. At her greeting Shikamaru turned his head down towards her. He seemed surprised to see her. "Hey. What are you doing here?"

Aya replied, "I usually come here to read. How about you?"

"Cloud gazing," Shikamaru replied, "My usual place was taken."

Aya nodded, "It's getting harder and harder these days to find a quiet place in this village."

"Yeah," Shikamaru sighed, "It's such a pain."

Aya found herself smiling again. Like yesterday, she again felt that feeling of ease and comfort around him. That was until she remembered his jacket sitting in the bag at her foot. At its remembrance, she once again felt flustered.

_Just give it to him Aya. Just hand it over and be done with it._

With slightly shaking hands she lifted the jacket out of the bag. "Shikamaru."

"Hm?" The addressed boy once again turned his head towards the girl.

"Here," she held the jacket out towards him.

He took it from her. Their fingers brushed slightly and a faint blush painted Aya's cheeks.

"Thanks," mumbled Shikamaru.

"Oh, no, thank you," Aya forced out.

Now it was the brunette's turn to blush. Shikamaru replied not quite looking at Aya, "It was no big deal."

Despite being flustered, Aya noticed that Shikamaru commonly known for his habitual labeling of things as troublesome and a drag didn't do so in this case. This made a small smile turn upwards at the corners of her lips.

_See that wasn't too bad now was it? _

Aya reached into her bag and pulled out her book.

_No it wasn't that bad after all._

With a smile still playing on her lips, Aya began to read her book alongside her teammate who resumed his cloud gazing.


	10. Chapter 10

**Thank you to Jessyxo, Shika93, and Hermonine for the reviews and comments; it's really appreciated. :) And now here's part ten, enjoy everyone! :)**

* * *

…_Grrrr…_

At the sound of her stomach rumbling, Aya looked up from her book. It seemed like it was time for lunch. Aya placed her bookmark inside to hold her place and then shut it. She grabbed her knapsack and dug out the lunch Midori had gave her.

…_Grrrrr…_

Aya paused. This time that was not her stomach. She cast a glance at her cloud gazing companion.

…_Grrrrr…_

Sure enough it was his stomach. Aya held out the bento towards him. "Want some?"

"I'm fine," Shikamaru replied still staring up at the clouds.

…_Grrrrr…_

Aya's lips turned up into a smile. His stomach said otherwise. "You sure? There's enough for both of us."

Shikamaru opened his mouth to reply, but his stomach cut him off by letting out another growl that was louder than the previous ones.

Shikamaru sighed, finally averting his gaze from the clouds to look at Aya. "I guess I'll have some then."

Aya placed the bento between them. She held out a pair of chopsticks to Shikamaru. "Here."

"Thanks," he mumbled, taking the chopsticks.

As they began to eat, Aya felt that she should say something, but she didn't know what to talk about.

_Mew!_

Aya's thoughts were interrupted at what sounded like a cat meowing. She turned around to find that a black cat stood about five feet away watching her and Shikamaru. Or more precisely it seemed to be eyeing their food.

"Looks like someone else wants some lunch too," Shikamaru said.

"Seems like it." Aya picked up an octo-sasuage and held it out on her palm. "Here kitty."

However the cat just stared at Aya and did not move at all. Aya frowned. Warily she took a step forward, then another, and another. When she was a couple of feet from the cat, it let out a hiss at her and backed away.

Aya stopped. She sighed. She was afraid that would happen. For some reason, cats never seemed to like her too much. She placed the octo-sasuage on the ground and then went back to sit over near Shikamaru.

"Hmm," Shikamaru murmured to himself, staring at the cat.

Aya looked at him. "What?"

"That cat. I think it's Sasuke's."

Aya's eyes widened. "Sasuke Uchicha?" He never really seemed like an animal person to her.

"Yeah," Shikamaru paused, staring at it some more, "But it's a lot bigger than I last saw it. Pregnant by the looks of it. Also," this time he turned to look at Aya, "I remember it being friendly."

Aya felt her cheeks heat up. She could barely meet Shikamaru's eyes. "Um, that's my fault. For some reason cats have never really liked me."

"Oh," replied Shikamaru, returning his attention to the bento in front of him.

Aya watched as the cat didn't approach the octo-sasuage, but, instead, with its eyes glued warily to Aya, it began to slowly head over to where they were. The cat walked right pass Aya, eyeing her the entire time, and instead, made its way up to Shikamaru. It crawled right into his lap and finally turned its gaze away from Aya and fixed its eyes on him and mewed.

Shikamaru eyed the cat. "Why are you bothering me? Aya offered you food, but you rejected it."

It just continued to look at him with pleading eyes and mewed.

"You can give it some food. It's all right," said Aya.

"Troublesome cat," grumbled Shikamaru as he picked up an octo-sasuage and held it out to the cat. The cat immediately took it out of his hand and devoured it. It then looked up at him again expectantly and mewed again. Shikamaru grabbed some more food for it from the bento and held it out to the cat. It eagerly ate what was offered and proceeded to demand more food.

Shikamaru sighed and addressed Aya. "You know, right now I wished that cats didn't like me either."

Shikamaru's comment made Aya feel better and she felt herself smile. As the three of them continued to eat lunch, Aya wondered why it was that he always seemed to say just what she needed to hear.

* * *

Aya once again found herself at the end of the third book of favorite series which of course ended on a horrid cliffhanger.

_Well at least it's finally coming out next week, so I won't have to wait long._

With that thought, Aya closed the book. She stretched, taking in the surroundings of her world once again. Her eyes landed on Shikamaru. It looked like he had dozed off. On his stomach laid the cat who had settled on that spot after lunch. Aya's attention switched to the sky. The sun was starting to set.

_I should head home; it'll be dinner time soon._

Aya placed her book back into her knapsack and flung it back onto her back. Aya looked over at Shikamaru.

_Should I wake him and tell him I'm leaving or just let him sleep?_

At that moment, the cat's eyes opened, it yawned, and then slowly raised itself onto all fours, and proceeded to walk off of Shikamaru.

Shikamaru's eyes flicked open and he sat up with a groan, his hand rubbing his stomach. "Troublesome cat and its sharp claws," he mumbled.

Aya smiled. "I'm gonna head home now."

Shikamaru turned his attention to her. "Okay. See you later then."

"Later," Aya returned. Shikamaru gave a nod and then with a yawn laid back down and returned his attention to the sky.

Aya gave the pony tailed brunette one last glance. She had come to her secret place this morning to just get away from everyone and to just enjoy some solitude. But instead, she had arrived to find her secret place occupied by another. However, despite this, Aya found that she didn't mind that her secret place was not really just hers anymore. Maybe it would have bothered her if it was anyone else, but because it was Shikamaru, she found herself not caring and actually enjoying his company. She actually found that she was a little reluctant to leave; she wanted to stay longer.

Aya's left arm prickled, causing her to shift her attention to it. She frowned at it; rubbing it with her right hand. It was restless. Usually she uncovered it when she spent time here, but because Shikamaru was here she didn't.

Even though she felt more comfortable around Shikamaru than she did around many others, she still did not feel comfortable enough revealing _it_.

Aya shook her head. No. She wouldn't risk it. Never.

With those thoughts, Aya left her secret place that wasn't just hers anymore and left behind the boy who now shared in that secret place.

* * *

Aya entered their apartment, the door closing behind her with a soft bang. She walked into the kitchen to find that Midori wasn't there preparing dinner like she usually was at that time of the day. Aya wondered if Midori was in _that _room or if she had happened to leave the apartment. Aya made her way over to the door of the room where Midori spent most of her time. As she was about to knock on the door, it suddenly opened revealing her sister. "Aya, welcome home," Midori greeted her with a smile, "How did your day go?"

"It was good. I gave Shikamaru his jacket back and gave his family the muffins," Aya responded, not quite looking at Midori. She couldn't help but to peer at the assortment of flowers and plants that covered the entire room. The plants invaded every space of the room; they even grew up the walls and spread over the ceiling. It was like they wanted to devour the room. Her eye fixated on a cluster of blood red flowers. As she stared at the red flowers, a memory began to resurface in her mind, a memory that she wanted to forget. However, as much as she had wanted to forget it, it was still there, bidding it's time to resurface, a time like now.

Aya was no longer in the apartment, but instead, stood in another room. In this room, she stared down at a patch of vines covered with red roses. Aya stood frozen to the spot, her eyes wide, trying to believe the sight that was playing out in front of her. The roses that she had adored and cherished so much before were now devouring one of the people that she loved and cherished the most. Why? Why was this happening? Unable to come up with an answer, her small frame began to shake, tears started to well up in her eyes, and a sob broke from her body as she sank down to the ground.

"Aya honey don't cry," the muffled and labored voice caused the young girl to snap her gaze up to where the head of her mother lay buried under the red flowers.

"Mama!" At the sound of her mother's voice, Aya began to tear at the roses that covered her mother's face. However, as much as the girl tugged the vines, she couldn't break them, instead, their thorns dug into her fingers, causing more tears and sobs to come from her. She paused in her futile efforts and cried out, "Why? Why are the flowers eating you?"

"Don't blame the flowers honey," her mother's voice stopped before continuing again, "it's not their fault."

Aya shook her head. "No! It's their fault! They're hurting you! They're not supposed to hurt you!" Aya then resumed her attack on the flowers.

"They're not hurting me; they're helping me."

Aya stopped again at her mother's words. Helping her? How were they helping her? Aya shook her head; she just didn't understand. "No, they're not Mama. They're hurting you," Aya managed to choke out. Aya turned her head as she felt her mother's hand stroke her cheek. Her eyes widened as she noticed that the hand was not covered with vines anymore. Aya grasped the hand and flinched when she felt how cold it was. "Mama? Why's your hand so cold?"

She rubbed it between her hands trying to warm it up. She stopped as she noticed the vines starting to creep back over it. "NO! Go away!" She tugged at the vine with both hands, but was unable to stop it from gradually reclaiming her mother's right hand. "I hate them!"

Aya turned her attention to her own left arm as she felt fingers brush over it. The fingertips of her mother were tracing the swirling pattern of the image of one of the green vines with closed buds that went from Aya's shoulder to the palm of her hand.

"Don't say that Aya." At her mother's scolding, but gentle tone, Aya's attention again shifted to where her mother's head was. However, instead of meeting vines and red flowers, she met the pastel green gaze of her mother. Her mother's eyes bore into Aya's own. "They are a part of me. A part of you. They make us whole. Never forget that."

"Aya!" The image before Aya's eyes faded away and she found herself staring into Midori's light brown eyes. "Aya? Are you all right?" Aya realized that she could no longer see into her sister's flower and plant room; the closed door blocked the sight from her vision.

Aya mustered up a smile. "Yeah, I'm fine," she replied, however, a tremble in her voice belied her statement.

Midori of course picked up on this, but she didn't press her sister. She knew of the cause of her sister's sudden spacing out, but she wouldn't press it; it was something that only Aya herself could get over. As much as Midori wanted to help her sister, she knew that there was nothing she could do. She would just be there for Aya.

"Want to help me prepare dinner?" Midori asked, "I was thinking of making sukiyaki."

Aya nodded. "Sure." She hoped that by doing so she would be able to push back the memory of her past and drown out the feelings that had resurfaced.

Midori smiled. "Great. Let's get to it then."

"Yeah," Aya replied, returning her sister's smile.

* * *

Aya entered her bedroom and laid down on her bed. A satisfied sigh escaped her lips. She had just taken a shower and now she felt clean and refreshed. As if to agree with her feelings, Aya felt a tingling feeling in her left arm. She held up her currently un-bandaged arm and sure enough saw that the green vines were shifting; Aya knew that if she touched them that she would feel them humming under her fingers, staring at them reminded her of mother's touch. Aya, recalling the memory, began to absently trace the humming green vines with her fingers. She followed the swirling pattern of green starting at her shoulder, every so often the vine led to a closed bud before it led off into more vine. Eventually the vine led to the middle of the palm of her left hand. In the middle of her left palm, a small bump of green stuck out from Aya's skin. Her fingers traced over it.

"_They are a part of me. A part of you. They make us whole. Never forget that."_ Aya's hand abruptly fell away from the green spurt and she dropped her left arm back to her side as her mother's words echoed in her mind.

She buried her head into her pillow as she felt tears prickle at the corner of her eyes. She didn't want the stupid flowers. She didn't want them to be a part of her. She hated them. They were the reason for the way her life was. If it wasn't for them, she would be able to be like everyone else. If it wasn't for them, she would still be with her mother. At this thought, the tears finally spilled over and a sob escaped Aya's chest.

Why? Why did she have to be different? She just wanted to be accepted. At the thought of acceptance, a picture of Shikamaru cropped up in Aya's mind. Her sobs started to calm down as she thought of him. Shikamaru…he had been so kind to her. He had even let her borrow his jacket when her sweatshirt was being washed. He hardly knew her, yet he was kind to her. She liked being around him; being around other people usually stressed her out, yet around him she felt relaxed and peaceful.

_But then again he doesn't know…he doesn't know about my left arm or my past. If he knew, he would surely be disgusted._

At this thought, Aya lifted her head from her pillow, a defiant look had taken over her features and her right hand clenched into a fist. She liked being around him, so he couldn't find out. No. She would never let it happen. As she promised herself this, her right leg moved, knocking over a bag that had been placed at the foot of her bed. The bag fell onto its side and a book spilled out of it. Aya looked down at the book curiously. _What's that doing in there? _The bag contained Aya's sweatshirt and white blouse that had been returned earlier in the day by Adriana when Aya was out. Aya bent down and picked up the book.

Her eyes widened as she looked at the title. _What? How is this possible? _She blinked thinking she was seeing things, but the same sight met her eyes when she opened them. In front of her was the next book in her favorite series. Aya frowned, the book wasn't supposed to come out until next week. Aya opened the cover of the hard cover and saw that words were written in pen on the inside: _Hey I heard that you're a fan, so this is for you. I'm really am sorry about the other night! Anyways, enjoy! ~Adriana_

Aya let out a gasp. The book was from Adriana. Did that mean that she was the writer of her favorite series? Aya's cheeks reddened as she recalled how her and Adriana had met. She groaned, why did she have to meet her in that manner?

Aya shook her head and looked down at the book in her hands. Her feelings of embarrassment were quickly overtaken by excitement. Pushing all previous worries from her mind, Aya settled back onto to her bed and began to read.


End file.
